Photos and Flowers
by jmacklemore425
Summary: And in this new photograph, was a new smile-with new beginnings. A series of oneshots spanning the entire compilation, in no particular chronological order. CloTi.
1. Silent Night

Yuffie was snoring on a chair in the corner.

Barrett was talking in his sleep, halfway out of his seat. Swearing—probably going trigger-happy in a dream.

Cid's head had fallen from his hand and straight onto the bar counter about an hour ago. It didn't look like it had phased his drunken slumber in the slightest, however. Discarded cigarette buds laid scattered on the floor around him, their stench still freshly wafting through the bar.

Vincent was nowhere to be found; there was a good chance that he had left hours ago, and no one had noticed. What a surprise.

Tifa tip-toed across creaky floorboards, careful not to disturb her friends. They were going to be feeling awful the next morning, anyways—better to just let them sleep now while they didn't feel the need to vomit everywhere. Besides, today had been a day of celebration; they all deserved to be so joyous, so who was she to ruin the first sleep that they had probably had in days? She scooped up dirty dishes and mugs, throwing them into the crate held at her hip before heading to the sink, tossing pots and pans aside in an attempt to make smaller dishes the higher priority. She, herself, was feeling pretty tired to say the least and a warm bed was going to be well-welcomed. With the children in bed, the whole establishment was quiet. No more laughing, yelling, and sounds of glasses clinking…it was refreshing, though.

The bar maiden scrubbed and scrubbed away at white plates for what felt like ages, until her bruised hands ached and her fingers had been reduced to prunes. She turned the bar taps off and dimmed the lights, keeping them just slightly lit so that everyone may locate the bathroom or more comfortable spot if necessary without falling face first into a table. Or another person. Giving one last glance over her shoulder, she rounded the corner to the stairwell and made her way up to where she had grown to affectionately call 'home'. She had gone up and down these stairs so many times that she knew exactly where they creaked and cracked; carefully, she tip-toed up the sides until she reached the top of the landing.

Several doors sat on both sides of the hall, Marlene and Denzel's room being the first. The doodle-covered door was just slightly cracked because _everyone_ knew Marlene was scared of the dark, and Denzel always had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night anyways. Tifa quietly pushed the door open, poking her head inside. All was quiet. Both children were sound asleep in their respective beds, with toys scattered about on almost every inch of the floor. Laughing softly to herself, she pulled the door shut once more, leaving the two kids to have their first peaceful dreams in a long while. The room directly across from theirs was the office, once unoccupied for so long save for the incessant ringing of a phone. The door was closed, with only a small amount of light seeping out from underneath. Holding her breath, her nimble fingers turned the tarnished doorknob and she squeezed her eyes as the door groaned in protest.

Cloud had only joined the celebration downstairs for a short while before retiring upstairs, leaving everyone else to celebrate for him. Tifa understood though. The day had been taxing on everyone, _especially_ Cloud, and she saw no reason to make him stay awake longer than absolutely necessary. Now, as she tactfully made her way further into the bedroom, she saw soft blonde hair poking out just barely above fresh blankets. She passed his desk, admiring the number of maps and books he had in his possession.

And on top of it all laid a new photo—a group photo of them together with all of their comrades in front of the church—and Cloud finally with a smile on his face. Yellow and white flowers laid scattered across the desk beside it as a token of remembrance for old friends.

The toe of her foot caught something, and she froze. Looking down to the floor and squinting through the dark, she found a black mass of clothing tossed to the ground with little regard as to where they fell. Tifa bent over and inspected the knit turtleneck tossed onto the top of the pile. It was covered in blood, with several holes torn into it. His pants were in a similar condition, though just _slightly_ better. Belts and a harness laid under his pants, worn around the leather edges and covered in flecks of blood as well. Underneath it all were his boots. Carefully feeling the soles of both, she found one with a large, ragged hole in the bottom, blood staining its black leather. She frowned, huffing a sigh as she took the pile into her arms and rose upright once more. Maybe she'd show him the wonders of new clothing soon—she'd have to, once she got rid of these. There was only so much stitching she could do to fix this ensemble.

The lump in the bed sighed. Tifa quickly turned, her wine-colored eyes wide in fear that she had been caught intruding. She watched as he slowly rolled onto his opposite side, face buried in the pillow with a mess of blonde hair poking out in every which direction. But he didn't wake. Tifa bit her lip, cringing slightly as she crept even closer to the bed. His small bedside lamp was still on, indicating to her that he had been reading something before turning in for the night; sure enough, an old, worn book laid on the floor beside the bed, upside down in order to mark his place. Tifa knelt down and read the faded print on the spine.

 _Your Guide to the Eastern Continent and More_

She couldn't help but laugh to herself. A book of maps-already planning his next delivery _._ Maybe she should suggest to him when he woke up that he take a little time off.

She turned her attention back to Cloud's sleeping form, which was not disturbed in the slightest by her presence there. Now freed from Geostigma, his eyes appeared less sunken and his skin less pale. He had a pinkish color to him—a lively color, now not so close to death. His blonde hair obscured most of his face, prompting her to extend a gentle set of fingers to brush them behind his ear. With his mouth just slightly open, she listened to his soft breathing. It was so nice to hear that again. She remembered being in this very spot in this room only a few months earlier, speaking to him softly as he slept on many occasions, as she anticipated maybe someday hearing an answer to the question she had often asked him while he slept.

But tonight, she was going to leave him to sleep uninterrupted. He needed it, and she needed it too. Everyone did. And there would be plenty of time to talk about all sorts of things tomorrow. They did, after all, have a bit of catching up to do.

Tifa rose to her feet once more and turned off his lamp, observing him for just a moment more before adjusting the pile of soiled clothes in her hands and turning back to the door. She slipped through the crack in the door and reached for the knob, stopping as she heard a soft voice break the silence of the night.

"…Goodnight."

She peered back in to find a pair of half-opened, tired electric-blue eyes looking back. A faint smile tugged at the corner of Cloud's lips before he closed his eyes once more, his face digging back into the pillows; soon, his breathing slowed and indicated to Tifa that he had effortlessly succumbed to peaceful sleep once more.

She smiled, and quietly shut the door behind her as she left.

It was nice to have him home again.


	2. Empty Liquor

Maroon boots scrambled from room to room, to behind the bar, back to the pantry, then back again to the bar.

A phone rang in a corner.

 _Dammit._

The footsteps bounded from one end of the bar to the other and Tifa quickly picked up the phone, nearly dropping at as she pressed it against her ear and held it in place with her shoulder. "…Hello?"

She rummaged through bottles behind her counter, shaking each one gently to measure how much was left before quietly cursing to herself as she listened to the voice on the other end of the phone. Something, something, a late shipment, something else…

"I don't think you understand, I'm almost out of everything, and it's pouring outside. There's no way that the trains are going to keep running in a heavy storm—" The other half of the conversation rambled on and on, something about how it was 'guaranteed today', maybe a few other things. Who knew? Tifa sighed, letting out a frustrated laugh as she tried with every ounce of willpower in her body to not reach through the phone and throttle her supplier through the phone. This was his third time this month being late on an order, and she was nearly out of stock on everything behind the bar. Even lower shelf items were running dangerously low, and she wasn't about to shut the bar down until a new delivery came in. If she had to, she would buy the alcohol out of her own pocket—because _anything_ was better than closing and losing valuable customers due to a simple shortage of supplies.

Besides, this job was the only thing that could take her mind off of the things she saw and the people she encountered once night fell.

"…Fine. Yeah, yeah. I know. I'll meet you there at five," Tifa rolled her eyes and hung the phone back up, sighing once more as she threw several empty liquor bottles into the trashcan at the end of the bar and pulled out a concealed drawer, hidden beneath the beer taps. Shoving a bag of gil into the pocket of her skirt and wiping her hands on her thighs, she hurried flipped the door sign from 'open' to 'closed', checked her pockets one last time for her keys, and headed out into the bustle of Sector 7.

People were everywhere. There was no escaping it. The Slums were already congested, and the constant ShinRa militia presence didn't do much to help it. You were constantly bumping elbows—there was simply no other way to get to where you needed to be without nearly plowing over a few people in the process. But seeing as her alcohol delivery wasn't coming for another two hours, she figured that maybe she would take her time for once. Sector 7 wasn't necessarily the nicest place by any means, especially considering there was no blue sky to ever look at—not even rain trickled down from the plate most of the time. But it was full of all kinds of people with all kinds of lives; many of these people ran small shops on the side of the walkways in hopes that someone would come along and buy something. These people were trying to make a living, too. Tifa knew that she had been fortunate enough to come into contact with a man a few years back who was already running a bar—a bar that now belonged to her. Opportunities such as that were scarce down here anymore. Most of the people beneath the plate could never make enough to even afford to live in the Slums; therefore, Tifa had sometimes taken it upon herself to purchase something that she had no use for whatsoever in hopes that she could improve someone's life. It was the least she could do; many of these people were loyal customers of hers.

" _Excuse me_ , Miss!"

A booming voice caught her attention, and she quickly turned to find an older shopkeeper, frantically waving his arms in her direction as he stood behind his booth. A grin spread across his face, and he motioned for her to come closer. Fighting against the current of the crowd, Tifa approached him cautiously, returning a small smile as she inspected the various trinkets he had spread out across his booth. Necklaces, bracelets, anklets, ribbons for hair laid scattered across the table before her and she ran a finger over several items, inspecting their authenticity. Some looked fake, some real. It was not uncommon for counterfeit items to be sold down here; most shopkeepers were not ever even aware of their counterfeit products. Tifa's gaze met his, and she smiled gently. "…Can I help you with anything?"

The haggard man quickly pointed to a small black box in the corner of the table, still grinning. His voice was loud and confident. "I think that _these_ would look fabulous on you, Miss," He opened the small box to reveal a small pair of diamond earrings, glittering in the dim light that leaked through the plate above. He held the box for Tifa to take, but was declined with the gentle push of a hand.

"No, thank you. I already have enough pairs of those," Tifa laughed softly, raising a hand to her left ear and absent-mindedly tugging on a silver tear-drop. They had been her mother's, and she had no interest in wearing any others. It was all she had left.

One of her few remaining tangible memories of home—maybe the last one, for that matter.

Slowly, the barmaid stepped back from the table and gave the shopkeeper a bright smile as she began to turn the other way. "Some of these are very nice. Maybe I'll stop back on the way home if I have time," She turned her back to him before he could convince her to buy another item; she didn't like doing that because he seemed so kind but she didn't have enough money for that right now, even if she did want some unnecessary piece of jewelry.

And so she continued on. Tifa kept her eyes locked forward, carelessly making her way towards the train station as her mind wandered to far off places. She could hear the occasional call for her attention, whether it be from shopkeepers looking to sell or men who couldn't keep their eyes from wondering on her figure. She had gotten used to that. If being a bar tender had taught her anything, it was to never take what overly-confident patrons said about her seriously.

She remembered the sky, and how it was so bright and blue back home. There was hardly ever a cloud in the sky—birds never ceased in their chirping, and the chatter of her neighbors never-ending. She hadn't seen a sky like that in a long time, but hoped that maybe one day she'd get the chance to again. She had been up on the plate a few times with Barret and the others, but yet the sky was nowhere near as vibrant as it had been in Nibelheim. Maybe someday.

Before she knew it, nearly an hour had ticked by since she had set out for the train station. Tifa hurried her way past masses of blue-collar workers to the main platform in hopes that maybe—just _maybe_ —her delivery would be a little early today. The faster she could get all of this stupid liquor, the faster she could retreat back to the safety and silence of her little bar. And maybe sleep a little before she went out with Barret for the night. Tonight was supposed to be an important one—they were going to try and dismantle parts of ShinRa's online security systems by taking out the terminals. Barret said that he had another assault planned in a few days to follow up on this one, but there was no telling what that would be.

Regardless, Tifa wanted nothing more than to sit in silence for just five minutes at the moment.

She sat down at a bench at the terminal, letting out a huff through her nostrils before resting her head against the cool concrete behind her. The bar had been crazy the past few days; tonight was probably going to be yet another night where business was booming and the constant conversing with customers never stopped. She loved talking to people; she had the privilege of working somewhere where the people were so diverse, but sometimes it was all too much. The thought of pretending to be interested in yet another sob story narrated by a drunken, middle-aged man was not appealing in the slightest and in fact, made her gag a little. She lifted her head once more and her ruby eyes opened, sparking in the yellow station lights. The traffic was beginning to die down a little now that several trains had left, carrying away hundreds and hundreds of people in the process.

A half hour went by.

All hope that her delivery would come early were quickly fading.

Tifa slowly rose from the bench, stretching her arms to the sky and twisting to crack her back as she examined the train schedule. She _had_ told the supplier the correct time, right?

Her leather boots creaked as she wandered about the terminal, her head occasionally turning to peer down dark alleyways or to inspect old vending machines containing candy bars that had most likely long-since expired. Old flyers littered the ground; some were looking for lost pets, others for missing people. Those were the saddest. Often times, they were children that had probably been swept away by a stranger in the chaos of the train station. The adults were people that had maybe left their families in hopes of finding a better life elsewhere. Tifa wondered where many of the people she had known were, now. She had lost many of the people she had cared about over the past several years; the thought made her throat and eyes burn.

She resolved to sitting back down, this time on a bench closer to where her supplier claimed to be meeting her. _He should be here any moment, now._

Five minutes ticked by. Then ten. Maybe fifteen. She grew slightly agitated, as indicated by the picking of the skin around her fingernails. It was a bad habit she had when she was anxious or frustrated; this was probably the reason that she had never bothered to get her nails done. Again, she rose to her feet and wandered aimlessly once more. Several homeless people waggled tin cans in front of her face in hopes that she had some gil to spare. She ignored them.

A half hour went by. Trains came and went, but yet no familiar faces got off onto the platform.

 _For Gaia's sake,_ she had contemplated borrowing someone's cell phone, simply so she could scream to her heart's content at her supplier. What good was he to her if he couldn't even get her products to her, days late anyways?

After asking a few passerbys, a young mother with an infant strapped to her chest finally allowed Tifa to borrow her phone. Quickly, she punched the all-too-familiar number into the keypad and held the phone up to her ear, ready for a confrontation. She was usually nice and tried to be understanding of his convoluted situations, so this side of Tifa would most likely be a shock. She didn't care, though. She just wanted to go home.

It went to voicemail.

She tried again, smiling uncomfortably as the mother did not seem very pleased with the continued lease of her phone. After several failed attempts at reaching her acquaintance, Tifa dejectedly handed the phone back and thanked the mother before heading off into the opposite direction, back towards Sector 7.

 _I'm going to kill him when I get my hands on him._

Tifa was seething now. Between clenched teeth, she stifled the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. Now, her bar was going to have to remain closed until she could figure out where she could get large amounts of alcohol at a fairly cheap bulk rate. Maybe Wedge or Jesse knew someone—she would have to ask when she got back to the Seventh Heaven…the brush of someone against her shoulder snapped her attention back to her path of motion, her eyes quickly scanning the area for her supplier once last time.

She felt a fuzzy warmth push past her calves, startling her. She looked down. A small terrier dog sniffed her briefly before rushing off, back towards the direction of the platform. The station security had those dogs trained to sniff out bombs and other weapons—she had noticed that security around the terminal was heightened, most likely due to the recent attacks AVALANCHE had been making on ShinRa's reactors and computer systems…the idea that ShinRa may be looking for her made her nervous. She could see the brown blur sneaking its way through the crowd, now followed by a red-suited train guard with a baton in hand. The pair made their way to a lump on the ground, presumably a hobo with nowhere else to go but wherever the train took them. Tifa watched as the guard poked the heap with a baton, which slightly stirred at the touch. But they didn't move. Or acknowledge the guard at all, for that matter. Tifa made her way closer, cautious as to not reveal too much of her personal features. But as she came closer, she realized that this guard was in no way interested in her; he was interested in moving this bum off of the platform.

"What's the matter?" She could hear the guard ask the young man repeatedly, prodding him further with the tip of his baton. It did nothing to provoke the man to move, let alone cause him to at least lift his head in acknowledgement. A large, silver sword sat at his side, gleaming in the yellow lighting. The terrier sniffed it before it continued its incessant barking—a noise that Tifa had become all too used to, down here in the Slums.

She came even closer, the tip of her boots touching the edge of his weapon. The dog moved out of her path, yet continued its yapping as if it expected that to be the noise to snap the young man out of his stupor.

 _Probably drunk_ …

She had dealt with enough drunks in her lifetime to know that they often hung around the train stations, waiting for a loved one or a friend to pick them up and take them home. But this guy didn't look drunk. He didn't smell like it, anyways.

"…Poor kid."

Tifa looked back to the red-clad guard. He was shaking his head slowly, biting his lip as he turned away and sulked off, probably off to find something else to preoccupy the rest of his shift with. She knelt down in front of the man, her voice soft as she carefully spoke to him. "…Are you alright?"

He let out few words that made sense—mostly just garbled moans with strange syllables. She reached out to gently lift his chin, only to have him flinch away suddenly as if in pain. He whimpered; he sounded like nothing more than a lost and confused child. It hurt her to see someone in such a sorry state.

What was _wrong_ with him?

Tifa quickly retracted her hand, frowning as she had feared she had harmed him with the simple touch of some fingers.

Suddenly, the man lifted his eyes. Beneath brittle blonde tufts of hair were brilliant blue—nearly green—eyes. Glowing directly at her. "…Tifa…?"

How did he know her name? She slowly nodded.

"Tifa…Tifa?" He repeated the name several times, almost as if to reassure himself that that was her name. He cringed again, squeezing his eyes shut.

"That's me…"

In an instant, the young man rose to his feet as if he hadn't been in any pain at all. "Tifa!" He sounded surprised, as if finding an old friend.

Tifa took a long few moments to take in the features of this new character. Pale skin, almost too pale—with those radiating eyes and unkempt blonde hair that flew out in every direction…his uniform was a familiar one. A large bronze belt with the SOLDIER First Class emblem stamped across it, and worn leather gloves that looked like they were in dire need of replacing. Her head slowly turned to one side, her stomach twisting in both horror and excitement as she pieced his ensemble together. It couldn't be. Not after this long…

 _What-_

" _Cloud_!" Her ruby eyes met his sapphire ones, and she smiled. Her heart leapt in her chest, and suddenly she felt maybe just a bit faint.

 _I thought you were gone…_

"That's right," He gave her a strange, affirmative nod. "I'm Cloud." He took his sword in hand, twisting it by the handle so that the tip of its blade scraped against the concrete. It was an odd statement indeed, but almost one that didn't necessarily surprise Tifa. Cloud had never been much of one for eloquent words.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Is it really you? I didn't think I would find you here, in all places…" Her gaze continued to wander over his form, admiring his changed physique. But something didn't seem quite right.

He gave her a small shrug. "It's been a while."

She drew closer, studying the features on his face. With heavy eyelids and sunken cheekbones, he didn't look like he had been eating well recently. Or showered. Or slept. Her face grew somber and she bit her lip. "You don't look very well, Cloud."

"It's okay…" He averted his gaze from hers and turned his face away slightly to avoid further prodding. "It's nothing. I'm alright."

"How long has it been? It must have been forever ago…" She shooed the dog away at her feet, who whimpered softly as it pranced off. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet; the last time that she had seen him was when Sephiroth was in Nibelheim...

Cloud cooly leaned against his sword, flicking a piece of stray hair from his face. "Five years? Five years."'

That didn't sound right, but who was she to try and count the years? They had all seemed to blend together, after all. She sighed softly, flashing a gentle smile. "It _has_ been a long time."

The two watched each other in silence, bouncing uncomfortably from foot to foot for several minutes until Tifa finally spoke. Sometimes the silence was more deafening than sound itself.

"Why don't you come back to my place? We have a lot of catching up to do," She motioned for him to come closer, but he declined.

"I don't…I don't think that's a good idea."

She outstretched a hand, her fingers dancing in a gesture that indicated she wanted his hand in return. "Come on, Cloud. You can at least get a shower in, and some food in you. You look awful…" She craned her neck to inspect his backside, which looked unscathed aside from the dirt-covered slacks. "You can rest up. You don't have to stay, if you don't want to…" Her voice trailed off as her face softened, before a reassuring smile spread across her face once more. "I have some friends I'd like for you to meet. They're good people. But…you don't have to, if you don't want to."

He stared at Tifa for a long while, those luminous eyes boring holes into her. He continued to shift apprehensively from one side to the other, his muscles tensing and relaxing before he reluctantly took her hand and allowed her to lead him away. His grip was weaker than she had imagined; whatever he had been through, it must have really taken a toll on him.

They approached the gate leading into the main Sector, the lights of the station fading behind them. Before long, they were making their way through shops, many of which were now closing for dinner time. Tifa watched as Cloud seemed to take it in, his tired eyes scanning every bit of the gloomy scenery. They passed the shop that the older gentleman had stopped her at earlier. He was nowhere to be seen; his goods now gone and most likely packed somewhere safely with him.

Soon, the pair found themselves face-to-face in front of the Seventh Heaven. A heap of old metal and wood, it was a sore sight to take in and it didn't stand out much against any of its surroundings. Tifa quietly unlocked the door, frowning as she was quickly reminded of the lack of alcohol in her possession. It was going to have to wait a few more days, it seemed. Oh well.

"This is my home," She allowed Cloud to enter first, her arm outstretched in welcome. "My bar, really. But I live here, too."

He said nothing, but silently inspected his surroundings. His sword rested against the wall beside the door, and he quietly studied the pictures on the wall. Not one familiar to him. His fingers carefully brushed some of the old photos. A large man with an odd gun on his arm, a young girl maybe a few years younger than them with a red bandana wrapped tightly around her mess of hair. Two other men around the same age who had their own variations of odd weapons; all sharing the same trait. A wide grin on their faces. Tifa was in a few of them, but not many—Cloud could only assume that maybe she had been the one taking the pictures.

He jumped when a pair of arms unexpectedly slid beneath his arms and met at the center of his chest. Dark hair tickled his biceps, and he felt a head rest cautiously against the small of his back.

Tifa. He felt her shaking slightly. She was crying.

"I thought that you were gone. I…I hadn't heard from you in so long…" She laughed softly, sniffling as her grip on his midsection tightened ever so slightly. "I'm so glad to see you again, Cloud."

He remained unnaturally still for several more moments until he brought himself to touch her bare arms with a rough, worn glove. "It's good to see you again, too." His weary voice was barely above a whisper, and he turned in her hold to face her. A faint smile graced his sallow face. "It's good to see you again, too, Tifa," Cloud closed his eyes as he felt her weight fall against him just a little more, as if she were finally trusting that he was actually standing there with her. His arms deliberately came around to encircle her loosely, as if afraid to damage her in any way.

Maybe he, too, thought that this wasn't actually happening. But the welcome feeling of her touch indicated otherwise.

And if that was the case, then perhaps they just wanted to both keep dreaming a little longer.

Tifa lifted her head from his shoulder, her eyes pleading with his. "Stay, please."

"...Okay."


	3. Retrospect

A solid _thud_ resounded, nearly rocking the whole upper level. A string of profanity and grumbling continued, but not too loud—after all, Tifa wasn't supposed to be up here.

The bar's attic was so small, she wondered how they had been able to shove all of this stuff up here in the first place. Boxes and chests were precariously stacked to the ceiling, and even the slightest bump threatened to knock them all over; unfortunately the barmaid had been unable to keep them all in their place as demonstrated by the large knot on the top of her head and the countless boxes scattered around her. It didn't help that the thing she was looking for was most likely in one of the chests at the very bottom of a stack.

The kids weren't supposed to know she was up there. One reason was because she knew that being the curious children they were, they would try to come up here and mess around, and the last thing that she needed was to find one of them crushed under a mountain of who-knew-what. The main reason, however, was that Marlene was turning seven tomorrow and Tifa thought that maybe she had the perfect gift for her hiding _somewhere_ up here…

'Somewhere' was the keyword.

The attic smelled musty and old, with the hint of alcohol. Seeing as this was where she stored her surplus spirits and bottles of liquor, that was no surprise. Heaps of extra motorcycle parts laid up here too—some old, some new. It was hard to believe that Cloud tinkered around with Fenrir enough to even have all of this extra scrap metal laying around. She had to occasionally shake a mystery box just to get an idea in it; Tifa had started playing a game with herself to figure out whose stuff was whose. Some of these boxes looked familiar, but it had been so long since either her or Cloud had bothered to go through them that there was no telling what they contained anymore. So the search continued.

Another hour went by. Boxes and their lids had grown around Tifa, and she was now surrounded by a fortress of damp cardboard. Tifa could feel perspiration dripping down her body in places she didn't know that she could sweat; where on Gaia was this thing? If she kept going like this, Cloud was going to come home to Tifa passed out in the carnage of her search. It was getting close to dinner time, anyways…she was going to have to make something for dinner before Cloud came home and the dinner rush at the bar really picked up. With the summer now in full swing, there was an abundance of care-free people making their way to the bars in search of a little extra entertainment. Letting out a sigh, Tifa wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and rolled backwards, crumpling several boxes of unknown contents in the process. She began to make her way down the ladder.

… _Wait._

Just as she began to make the descent into the hall, her eyes caught the glimpse of a chestnut case buried in a stack of boxes, concealed from anyone not looking for it. It had yet to be rummaged through today and it looked like something that she would normally possess; after all, Cloud didn't seem like the type to store extra motorcycle parts in a pretty little chest. Cautiously, as if expecting it to move if she went for it too quickly, Tifa made her way back up the frail stairs and towards the stuffy corner. Carefully maneuvering around her self-inflicted mess and pushing away fragile boxes of what could only be assumed to be holiday ornaments, she pulled the trunk by the handle and gently placed it in her lap.

It was lighter than she expected.

Her fingers nimbly popped the clasps holding the worn chest shut. The lid creaked in defiance of her touch, but it opened nonetheless. Tifa pushed away several layers of protective paper and cloth. She smiled.

* * *

"…Do you know what today is, daddy?" Marlene came bounding down the stairs and into the booth, sitting opposite of her father.

Barret rubbed the scruff under his chin with two large fingers, his eyes rolling. "I dunno. Somethin' like an anniversary or somethin', right?"

Marlene giggled. "No…" She twirled her hair playfully as she studied his face. "It's a _reeeaaaallly_ important day today."

Barret looked to Tifa pulling plates from some cabinets behind the bar, a playful and puzzled look on his face. "Teef, you know what today is? I have no idea and this girl tryna tell me that we got somethin' important goin' on!"

"Daddy!" The young girl tugged on his arm from across the table, a wide grin on her face.

The barmaid laughed.

"I dunno Marlene…" The larger man turned upon the ring of a bell and a door closing. "YO, SPIKEY! You know what today is?! Teef and I can't seem to get it together but Marlene's sayin' we gotta be havin' somethin' planned!"

A sly smile spreading across his face, Cloud shook his head as he removed his sunglasses, brushing a few pieces of fly-away blonde strands from his face in the process. "I have absolutely no idea," He came around the bar to join Tifa at her side and poured himself a glass of water from the sink. "You're going to have to give us some hints, Marlene."

"You have to understand Marlene, we're all getting pretty old here," Tifa shrugged sadly; the adults laughed.

At this point, the seven year-old was getting frustrated. She crossed her arms in her typical motherly manner, as if she were about to lecture them all to death. Denzel sat at the bar in front of Cloud with a devilish grin on his face. " _I can't take this anymore_ ," Marlene growled, letting out a huff. "It's MY birthday, guys! We're supposed to be celebrating _me_."

The group collectively groaned as if they had had a sudden realization, a sound that relieved Marlene and she finally giggled.

Tifa turned and reached into the refrigerator. "Well, I guess there's a reason I had this in here…" She pulled out a large cake on a platter, covered in pink and purple. Marlene's favorite colors.

The young girl clapped her hands excitedly as the cake was placed in front of her on the table. Tifa struck a match from her apron and lit the seven colorful candles on top; she shook it out and placed a hand on Marlene's shoulder. "…Alright, Marlene. It's not a birthday if we don't get to embarrass you a little today." She laughed.

Marlene rolled her eyes and folded her arms, a sly grin crossing her face. She knew what was coming.

With a roar, Barret started them off. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOOOOU…"

* * *

The bar was silent as the clan finished their desert; forks clinked against plates and Tifa and Cloud both watched in amazement as Denzel went for his fourth slice.

"You're going to make yourself sick, you know," Marlene poked the young boy in the chest, flicking some icing onto his nose.

"Will _not_!"

Cloud slid past Tifa and rinsed his plate in the sink. "My teeth hurt just watching you eat all of that."

The boy stopped shoving the current chunk of cake into his mouth, frosting still hanging off the tip of his nose with a dejected look playing out on his face.

Barret reached beneath the table and pulled out a large box, wrapped sloppily in gold wrapping paper and a messy pink bow tied on top. People didn't give Barret enough credit for all he was able to do with that new and improved hand of his. "A'ight Marlene, you gotta open your gifts in front of us. It's our payment for watchin' ova yo' sassy ass."

With a grin stretching from ear to ear, Marlene ruthlessly pulled away the wrapping paper and pried open the cardboard box beneath it all. Her small hands reached and she poked her head over the edge of the box. She squealed. Carefully, she pulled her hands from the box to reveal a fairly large doll, beautifully crafted with hand-painted features. And with hazel eyes, fringed bangs, and a braid that strung down its entire backside and a small pink bow to tie it off with, this doll was in fact the spitting image of Marlene herself.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, _thank you_ daddy!" Marlene waved the doll around, inspecting every angle of it. Even the clothing was similar to what Marlene wore.

"Oh, sweetie. It's beautiful," Tifa's eyes were wide with wonder. She had never really been one for dolls, but she could not deny that this was an impressive one indeed. She looked to Barret. "Where did you get that, Barret? It looks just like her."

…What if Marlene didn't like the gift she gave her?

Barret took the wrapping paper and threw it into the trashcan behind the booth. "Some dude makes these doll things in Kalm—got his own booth an' everything. I just gave him a picture of Marlene and he made me one right from scratch right in fronta me!"

Tifa watched as Marlene playfully teased Denzel with the doll hanging directly in front of his face. It made her feel good seeing the two settling back into a fairly normal routine. With only a few months having passed since the cure of Geostigma, Denzel had finally been able to get back to being what she could only assume was his old self—seeing as everybody had only known him as being sick—and playing with Marlene and the other children around town. Nudging Cloud gently in the side with a shoulder, she pointed to the nicely wrapped box in one of the cabinets beneath the sink. He bent down and took it in his hands, making sure to study it carefully and give it a gentle shake. His brows slightly furrowed and he kept his voice quiet as he leaned in towards her ear.

"What did you get her?"

Tifa smiled as she took it from his hand. "You'll see," She watched the children for just a moment longer before she softly cleared her throat. "Marlene, you still have another gift to open. It's from Cloud and me."

She could see Cloud shoot her a confused look from the corner of her eye.

The girl spun on her heels with bright eyes. She set down the doll beside her father and outstretched her hands; Tifa allowed Denzel to pass the gift to her. Just as she had done with the first, Marlene tore the wrapping paper apart to reveal a plain white blouse box. She pulled the tape from the side of the lid and pulled it off, sending it floating to the ground with some tissue paper. The smile on the youth's face only grew larger as she pulled from the paper a light blue heap of cloth, which unfolded into a child's dress as she took it into both hands to view it. "…It's _so_ pretty, Tifa!"

Tifa chuckled softly. "I'm glad that you like it," She paused for a moment, her voice softening. "It used to be mine."

Barret slammed a violent fist down onto the table, shaking the whole bar. "Awh, don't be ridiculous Teef! You could still fit in that!" He laughed his hearty laugh. "Ain't dat right Spikey?!"

The young woman turned to her side. Cloud gave a side glance and the red on his cheeks grew.

A blur shot past the bar, and Marlene was already halfway up the stairs. "I'm gonna try it on!"

The four of them remained downstairs, silent until only minutes later when Marlene was fully changed. The girl strutted confidently down the stairs and around the corner, putting her hands on her hips and exaggeratingly swishing her elbows from side to side with her nose high in the air.

"We got the most famous model right in front o'us erry'body!" Barret got up and took his daughter into his arms; a feat that earned another delighted squeal.

Tifa turned to look at Cloud. His eyes were watching Marlene intently as she twirled and spun around in the middle of the bar, his face completely stoic as if he were hypnotized. He had recognized that dress. She wondered how he was feeling at this exact moment; he wasn't upset, was he? Maybe she should have asked him before giving it to Marlene…

"Well," The little girl gave another dramatic twirl in front of the pair, the faded baby blue lace at the hem floating out in every direction. "How do I look?"

Before Tifa could even open her mouth to speak, she was interrupted.

"…Beautiful."

She immediately shot another look at Cloud, who had that small, serene smile tugging on the corners of his mouth.

Marlene enthusiastically clapped her hands and danced over to Denzel, who took her by the hand. The two gave a silly dance for a few minutes in the middle of the bar before Barret replaced his sunglasses onto his face and motioned for them to follow him towards the door. "C'mon, you two! Imma take you out for some ice cream. We gotta give Cloud and Teef a break sometimes too. Marlene, your pick!"

Both of the children cheered. Marlene snatched her new doll from the table before joining her father and friend; the bar suddenly fell deathly quiet as the door closed and Barret's roaring voice faded into the sounds of the city outside. The two of them were initially silent; Tifa uneasily shuffled her feet against the rough hardwood.

"…I'm sorry."

Cloud turned to her with a hip leaned against the bar and arms nonchalantly folded across his chest. "...For what?"

Tifa sighed as she closed her eyes and placed her hands atop of her head. "I didn't want to make you upset, I should have asked you or something before I just gave that to her," She could only imagine what sort of horrid memories he associated with really anything from Nibelheim. Neither of them had good memories of home anymore. Especially him.

Cloud shook his head. "I'm not angry, Tifa," His eyes met hers and she felt her stomach flutter when he came slightly closer. "That was a nice gift. She liked it. I'm sorry that I didn't bring anything home for her, though; I don't really know what seven year-old girls like," He laughed softly.

To be fair, Marlene wasn't exactly easy to shop for. She was wise beyond her few years on the Planet and that was made apparent in nearly every interaction that anyone had with her, and Tifa figured that the dress was something that could be useful.

"How do you still have that?"

Tifa came around to the other side of the bar and began to discard her wrapping paper and pick up some of the plates left behind from dessert. "My father had a really good friend in Midgar that he did business with every once in a while. When my mother died, he had a lot of her things sent out to be with his friend so that he wouldn't have to look at them all of the time. He didn't want them thrown out, though," Tifa's face grew solemn and suddenly she looked so much more fatigued. "About a year or so after you left town, he had some of my things sent out too …because those also reminded him of my mother. She used to wear a blue dress like that when I was little. And I guess she had a smaller one made too," She motioned towards the empty blouse box. "So we had matching dresses. And when she died, so did the beauty of that dress in my dad's eyes. At least, that's what I think," She threw the dishes into the sink and stopped back at Cloud's side. "After Zangan dropped me off in Midgar, I ended up running into my father's friend in the slums. One thing led to another, and he ended up telling me that he still had some of the things my father had sent to him…" She smiled sadly. "So I took what I could, right before you came to Midgar as a matter of fact. There wasn't much left—he had gotten rid of a lot of it over the years. It wasn't like he had much of a use for my mother's things, anyways. Just one or two photos, and the dress. A broken mirror and some other things. Who knows what happened to him, though...he's probably long gone, now."

They had lost a lot of people—and things—over the years. His voice slow, Cloud spoke softly. "…I'm sorry." He too had lost many of the things that he cared about; many of it disappeared with their home.

She gave another somber smile. "It's alright. I figured that I may as well put it to some more use. I figured that maybe Marlene would like it...you're right; she looks beautiful in it." Maybe the dress _was_ a good idea. Just as they had gotten a new beginning, so could the dress. It could have fresh, pure memories associated with a new family now instead of sadness and grief.

Cloud's electric blue eyes swept over her for a brief moment. He began to help her put away some of the dishes, a perk of having him home once more as Tifa could barely reach the top shelves of anything in the place most of the time. "She reminds me of you when you used to wear that dress. That's a good thing."

Tifa stopped for a moment. "Well, I appreciate that." She could feel her cheeks growing hot. Was that really all she could say?

He didn't say anything initially, but instead chuckled faintly. "Maybe one day, you two can have matching dresses." He gently slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer; her body willingly pressed up against his. Moments like this were far and few between with so many different things that they each had to do in the day; Tifa gladly welcomed any rare moment of quiet, but especially one with Cloud. Her arms slid around his middle and she closed her eyes as she rested her head against his shoulder. She laughed at the thought of her and Marlene wearing the same corny dress one day.

"I'd like that."


	4. Calamity's Promise

" _Go out, and find something worth fighting for."_

That's what Cloud had said to all of them before the embarked on their own final journeys. Or something like that, anyways. They only had a little more time before it was time to confront the embodiment of pure evil on this Planet, and Tifa had quickly realized that while Barret, Cid, Yuffie, and even Vincent had somewhere or someone to return to…she didn't. For someone who had tried to stay so optimistic in the face of adversity, she found it somewhat ironic that she didn't have much of a goal of what she wanted to accomplish before this last battle. Everyone else had quickly left; Barret to see Marlene most likely, and Cid to join Shera. Cloud, however, had stayed aboard for reasons unknown. And as the night drew closer and every part of the airship grew darker, everything fell eerily silent.

It had been a few hours after the group had dispersed, and Tifa found herself seeking out every bit of fresh air that she could find outside. It had been a long time since she had been able to take the time to actually _breathe_ , and do so while enveloped in her thoughts. These thoughts were composed of various memories, wishes, dreams, fears…things that she hadn't every given much thought to before. But when death loomed so close, thinking about those things was easier to do.

What would become of them? After death, what _was_ there? Would she see those she loved again—her friends, her parents? Would they all be there to greet her in the Lifestream? She knew that the Lifestream was a powerful force indeed, but there was no way of telling what "life" would be like in death. She had heard those that passed on in her head sometimes, closer than a memory but farther than anything physical in front of her. She wondered if that was the Lifestream at work, relaying her loved ones through to her or simply just her own wishful thinking. With so much loss in her life, it was sometimes hard to keep the voices straight.

Tifa had been so engulfed in her thoughts that she jumped at the sound of a soft voice.

"…What are you doing?"

She quickly turned, snapping back to reality. Cloud was there—for how long, there was no telling. She was quiet at first, not entirely sure as to how to explain her thoughts and the morbidity behind them. She didn't think that telling him about the impending doom of the Planet and the death of everyone on it was necessarily a good idea. Eventually, she gave a slight shrug. "Not much. Just catching some fresh air. It's a nice night out."

Cloud raised his eyebrows, as if surprised by her response. Perhaps it did sound silly, given the gravity of the situation at hand. But it seemed that a lot of things that didn't surprise 'normal' people amazed him. He crossed his arms across his chest and shuffled slowly closer, closing the distance between them in the dark. "It is," His words were slow. His gaze drifted past her and up to the sky, as if looking for the same answer as she. "I didn't think we'd ever get to see a night like this. We've all been so busy…" His voice trailed off, but his eyes remained locked on the stars above. All that could be heard was the soft hum of the Highwind's engines, and the occasional cricket chirp. It reminded Tifa of the nights back in Nibelhiem.

The pair remained silent for a long while, both seemingly hypnotized by whatever the sky was saying to them. They had somehow wandered apart from one another in the several minutes of silence, and Tifa had managed to face off in another direction—wherever those stars seemed to call her. Finally, she spoke up. "…Everyone is gone, Cloud."

While she couldn't see him, she _could_ feel his cobalt blue eyes staring at her. His voice was quiet but deliberate. "Yeah…we don't have anyone or anywhere to go home to," A soft breath. Laughter, maybe?

"I guess so. But maybe they'll all come back someday, hmm?" Perhaps that was wishful thinking too, but she would be damned if she lost all of her optimism now.

Cloud shuffled his feet, kicking dust up with his toes. "Everyone has something irreplaceable to hold onto," He paused. "But…" The tone of his voice took on a far more solemn tone than before, and for the first time in a while there was a tinge of sadness.

Again, silence. Tifa wasn't sure as to how she should even respond. Maybe this would be the end for them. _All_ of them. Their friends, the world itself—but such a situation may also provide them with the unique opportunity to say everything they needed to. She knew that she had passed up far too many chances to disclose her feelings towards Cloud; Yuffie had made it a point many times to tease her for her apparent inability to say anything to him regarding the topic without getting sweaty and wanting to vomit. And nothing was more charming than throwing up all over the person that you care the most about, right? Maybe death was eagerly waiting for them just around the corner, but that was okay. Maybe no one would come back. But that was alright, too. Tifa's voice was quiet; she lowered her head and for the first time in forever a gentle smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Her stomach fluttered, but she didn't feel the need to empty the contents of her stomach this time. "…You know something, Cloud?"

Again, his eyes bored holes into her.

"As long as I've got you here with me, I don't think I'll be scared."

His heavy boots clunked closer. "Tifa…" They stopped a few feet away, but he remained straight behind her.

Tifa's hands met behind her, gently swinging with the breeze. "I thought I heard you in the Lifestream when we were there together. I heard a lot of screaming, a lot of pain. But I also heard you there, too. And I didn't feel so alone anymore," Suddenly, she felt such an overwhelming sadness. Her eyes stung with hot tears that threatened to spill over her dark eyelashes.

"And I heard you," the response was somewhat of a surprise to her. He continued in his usual quiet manner, although it had a brighter tone to it. "After all…I _did_ promise that I would come to help if something had ever happened to you."

Her cheeks grew hot; she chuckled softly. But as the silence set in once more and the air grew thicker, Tifa's concentration focused back to the sky above. The sadness was replaced by a feeling of insignificance; this was the first time that she had ever really realized that they were all so small in comparison to everything around, above, and beneath them. There was a whole universe out there that had never been explored. Maybe a new life was waiting for them out there, if all else failed on this Planet. Her father had once shown her all of the different constellations up in the sky; it was summer time now, so she knew that there were certain ones that could only be seen now. If only she could remember which ones those were…

"Cloud?"

Again, he acknowledged her with a small grunt.

"Do you think the stars can hear us, all the way down here?" She turned back and shot him a quick glance. "Do you think they know how hard we're fighting to save them?"

Slowly, the blonde shook his head. He closed his eyes for a moment, and threw his arms behind his head, relaxing into them slightly as he leaned against a large rock brushing his calves. "I don't know. But I guess that we still have to do everything that we can…" He sighed. "…And believe in ourselves. I guess that's all we can do. Maybe someday, we'll find all of the answers that we're looking for," He stood upright and came even closer. "Right, Tifa?"

The way he said her name sent chills down her spine, despite the stagnant summer air.

Cloud cleared his throat, as if suddenly uncomfortable with everything around him. "There were a lot of things that I've been meaning to talk to you about for a while now, but now that we're here like this—"

 _Like this?_

"…I'm not really sure how to put it…" He laughed softly to himself. "Not much has changed, has it?"

Tifa smiled at the memories of a shy, young, and dorky Cloud. He hadn't been proficient with words then, and he was right; not much had changed in regards to that aspect of his personality now. But that wasn't ever something that she had hated. There had been so many things—so many emotions—that she had let go unsaid for so long, that perhaps talking things over wouldn't effectively convey her thoughts. Twenty-something years of pent-up feelings couldn't ever be put into a few sentences that could easily be forgotten. Even she knew that. She looked back down to her feet, that same little smile playing on her lips and she closed her eyes as she dared to be so forthright. "You know…words aren't the only thing that tells people what you're thinking."

Her stomach spasmed again. Did she really just say that? That probably sounded really dumb, No, it _definitely_ sound really dumb. She cringed at the mental image of what Cloud's face probably looked like right now—if she hadn't scared him off by anything that she had ever said before, she had definitely outdone herself this time.

There was that same silence as before, shrouding them like a sheet of iron. It was suffocating this time, and she was getting hot again, maybe even a little nauseous. But, just as she was about to change the subject in a last-ditch effort to salvage the conversation, a set of fingers gently brushed her arm. She spun on her heels and her eyes grew wide as she realized how close Cloud had come to her. He was still a few feet away, but his arm closed that distance between them. His gloved fingers lingered there for several minutes, and still the couple remained silent. Tifa's eyes followed his as they carefully studied her own leather-clad hands, then her toned biceps, then her shoulders, and eventually her face. As startling as this sudden display of affection was, she couldn't react. Her body wouldn't move; breathing was even getting more difficult. Or, at least it seemed that way. All she could bring herself to do was to keep looking at him, not once breaking eye contact. He didn't even blink as he cautiously drew closer; as if to seek her approval, he stopped several times to gauge her response.

And as if to shock him as much as he did to her, she gently slid her arms above his and around his neck, her gaze still focused on his. She dared to bring her face closer to his, until only a mere inch or two separated them. She could feel his breath on her nose, steady—contrasting heavily with her clumsy and fast breath. She felt like she had the air knocked out of her lungs. Is this what it felt like when teenagers got that butterfly feeling in the pits of their stomachs?

"…You're right."

The statement was simple enough, but it was enough for her. Flashing another brief smile, she ducked her head just slightly below his and in one quick motion, pressed her lips against his. It was immediate electricity.

 _Wow._

That was the only thought she had in her head at this very moment—every sad and morbid thought that she had harbored before had dissipated, and were replaced with this new excitement that she had never felt before. Not even imagined.

Cloud didn't immediately react; his lips remained slightly agape as she planted her soft mouth against his. But he didn't pull away, either. After a few moments that felt like they had gone on an eternity, he allowed his muscles to relax and his fingers rose from his sides to once more grip her wrists. Gentle—but there. They still weren't as close as Tifa would have liked, but maybe they would get there. She was only willing to go as far as he was; this was something that she had only ever dreamed of, and she wasn't about to test the limits. She felt that she had just done enough pushing. Their kiss lasted for a few minutes before they mutually pulled away, their eyes both wide as if the shock had just set in for them both. All Tifa could do was smile; with all of the adrenaline flowing through her veins, she wasn't really sure if she _could_ react in any other way. Her hands tightened around Cloud's neck, and she pulled his face closer once again to steal another kiss. She giggled quietly as she felt the hands that were previously gripping her wrists release and rest on the dimples of her back, then dared to travel just a little lower. Cloud wasn't nearly as apprehensive as before, and if he was, he definitely didn't show it—his own mouth had relaxed and the two were enjoying this first moment of intimacy. One of her hands slid up from his neck to fall on his cheek, adjusting the position of his mouth to fulfill her desires.

Maybe they both wanted the same thing.

Slowly, they pulled away from one another again. A small smile of his own spread across his lips, a smile that had never failed to make Tifa smile too. Although rare, those smiles of his were infectious. She didn't take the time to give the possibilities of who else could have possibly snatched him up before her much thought as she motioned in one direction to find a place to sit. The two found an area settled at the bottom of a dip in the earth, just deep enough to give them some privacy but the comfort of knowing the airship was not far behind. If they only had a few days left to live, then so be it—but Tifa wasn't about to let any moments with Cloud slip away from her anymore. If this was the only time to tell— _show_ —him what she thought of him, then she was by all means going to give it her best shot to do so.

Settling herself into a crevice in the dirt, she patted the ground next to her for him to sit. Cloud crawled to her side and took her in his arms once more, his touch a little more exploring than the time before. She, too, was making her own explorations on the boy from her childhood. She was finding parts and quirks to his body that she didn't even know he had, and she was sure he had done the same with her and her figure. Placing the occasional light kiss on her skin in places old and new, Cloud was continuing to be maybe a little too cautious in his actions, but she knew that this was because he didn't ever want to do anything to upset her. If she wanted him to stop after a certain point, he would. And she would do the same. But right now, it seemed like this new sense of discovery was welcomed by both parties. After almost every inch of each other had been explored by wandering fingers, Tifa lifted her head and brushed several strands of messy brown hair from her face. "Cloud…"

Hearing his name sent fire through him. He suddenly gave her his full attention, simply waiting for her voice to break the growing but comfortable silence.

"Please."

A plea.

And that was all she needed to say. Wordlessly, he pulled her back against him and they continued in a mess of hands, feet, articles of clothing that were steadily shed piece by piece, kisses, and touches. Their bodies tangled together in all of the right places and everything had come so natural to each of them; there was no more fear, no more embarrassment. Every slip-up and mistake was welcome with laughter and the occasional blush, only to be mended later by open-mouthed kisses and a certain, rhythmic closeness that neither of them had experienced before. One that neither of them had ever wanted to experience with anyone but each other. And when it was all over, the two laid side by side on the dirt, not caring a single bit that every bit of dry earth stuck to their sweaty skin. Tifa laid next to Cloud, gently wrapped in protective arms that had always promised to be there for her when she needed them. And like every other time, he had come to save her again. The two sat wordlessly looking at each other; Tifa's fingers chose to lightly trace patterns along his pronounced jawline while Cloud's palm chose to simply rest against her cheek, not moving but also not letting her face move away from his. While still in a state of blissful shock regarding everything that had happened within the past forty five minutes, Tifa wasn't going to complain a single bit. Even if things hadn't gone to the extent that they had, it would have still been alright. Hearing him whisper her name in ways that she had only thought happened in movies or fairytales—needing, wanting her to stay with him to the very end of it all—was everything that she had ever wanted. And even with death drawing threateningly close for them both, Tifa thought that she was still the luckiest girl on the Planet.

Finally, Cloud's soft, tired voice broke the peace between them. He chuckled softly, his grip on her body not once loosening as he placed his lips against her forehead ever so softly. "You know…we're going to have to get back onto that airship before everyone else does."


	5. A New Year

Ten.

Blues, reds, golds and greens lit up the whole sky and each new burst was accompanied by a deafening _boom_ —a sound that only a few years ago had come to be associated with devastation could now be identified with the bringing in of a new year. And a lot of happiness.

Friends and regular patrons alike stood crammed on Seventh Heaven's tiny front porch, admiring the fireworks that rose above even the tallest buildings in Edge. While some of these people knew one another and others were complete strangers, it was agreed upon unanimously that this light show was absolutely fascinating in every way. With the recovery of the city still well underway after the monster attacks initiated by Kadaj and his gang, city officials said that there wasn't much money to spare for community events. But apparently they had found the gil _somewhere_ , because this was quite the impressive firework display—perhaps even enough to rival the Golden Saucer's. It seemed like they had been going off forever; however, that was probably just because it was so cold out.

Nine.

Tifa turned to peek through the window at a wall clock hanging above her liquor shelves. Sure enough, it was almost midnight. Almost another year. She scanned the crowd bunched together around her. Old, young, even a woman with a baby—people of all walks of life were there watching the same thing as she. Barret stood with Marlene perched on his shoulders only a few feet away, with Denzel at his side holding her hand with his gloved one excitedly. Yuffie stood in the back with a grin on her face, hopping up and down and dancing with a group of children with their parents as Vincent leaned against the bar's wall, seemingly unenthused. But maybe there was a part of him that was excited. Cid—and Shera, much to everyone's surprise—had joined in and were sitting on the front steps together, laughing about something while Cid struck up another cigarette.

She felt a hand rest on the small of her back. Gentle, but there. Tifa snapped upright with her eyes wide as they followed the arm to a shoulder then to a mess of blonde hair flecked with snowflakes; it appeared that Cloud had been studying her as much as she had been studying the crowd. He flashed a smile. "...You're going to miss it, you know."

Eight.

The young woman rolled her eyes and laughed. "It's so loud—I don't think I could miss if it I tried."

Cloud didn't give a response, but instead his hand extended past the middle of her back and came around to lightly wrap around her waist. He pulled her closer; Cloud Strife claimed to never get cold, but maybe the chilly wind whipping every which way was beginning to change his mind. Tifa supposed that it was a good thing that she had convinced him to a purchase a better-insulated winter jacket. Of course, it was a motorcycle jacket because there was no way on the Planet that she was going to convince him to not drive Fenrir in five feet of snow—but it was a start, at least. She rested her head against the sleek fabric of his jacket and tilted her head to give herself a better view of his impressive jawline, a smirk playing on her face.

"Who are _you_ going to kiss at midnight, Cloud?"

"Hm," he didn't take his eyes off of the fireworks. "Maybe Beckett over there. He looks lonely." He motioned to a man standing off of the porch and to the side, crouched over his knees and heaving as it looked like he couldn't handle the liquor he had previously consumed. Beckett was one of Tifa's regulars and had a particular fondness for her and a particular dislike for Cloud—feelings not reciprocated by her but most certainlyreciprocated by her companion. But it never stopped Beckett from trying to cop a feel in passing. Keyword, 'trying'. He was ambitious to say the least.

Tifa chuckled. "Good choice. I think we have an extra toothbrush in the bathroom…it looks like you're going to need it," she cringed as she watched her inebriated customer continue to empty his stomach.

Seven.

In the months since he had been home, Tifa had the opportunity to watch Cloud slowly but steadily return to the 'old' Cloud. While initially adjusting to having the extra body at home was difficult for everyone living at Seventh Heaven, his return was more than welcome. He was smiling more, laughing more, even coming home early at least a quarter of the time—all things that Tifa hadn't realized that she had missed so much until he had returned home. This was the Cloud that she had come to know and admire so much so long ago. And now, she got to welcome in a new year with him. A new year with a healthy Cloud and a healthy Denzel, and a Marlene that was excited to eventually go back home with her father. Tifa closed her eyes at the thought and buried her face into Cloud's shoulder.

Six.

Business was going to be slow tomorrow. With all of the New Year's resolutions to stop drinking or to get back in shape, it was going to be a long and boring day. Maybe she could convince Cloud to stay home for the day. She could make them breakfast and they could stay in bed all day—it was, after all, currently the only way to stay warm in the bar as the heater had broken and she had yet to call someone out to fix it. If nothing else, it was her excuse to snuggle up with him more often. Luckily for her, it didn't seem like Cloud was in much of a hurry to get the heater fixed either.

"…Tifa?"

She lifted her head once more and looked at Cloud.

"Do you have a resolution for next year?" His voice was somewhat dry and taunting; she knew that Cloud thought the idea of making some new promise just for a new year was silly.

Tifa bit her lip; her head bobbed side to side for a moment. "Not really. I think that I have everything that I want right now," she laughed quietly. "What about you?"

He shrugged, a small smile tugging on the corners of his own lips. "I don't really need anything else."

Five.

" _Tifa!"_

The couple quickly turned towards the shrill voice to find two small hands waving above the crowd. Marlene was still perched atop of Barret, a mortified look on her face. Tifa tried pushing her way through the crowd gathered at her establishment with Cloud close behind, her fingers loosely intertwined with his in an effort to keep them together. "What's wrong, Marlene?"

The young girl pointed to her left, where Yuffie now stood leaning against Barret's massive bicep with a playful smirk on her face. "Yuffie told me that I have to _kiss_ someone at midnight or else I'm going to have bad luck this year—is that true?"

Freezing initially unsure as to what to do, Tifa eventually gave a heavy sigh of relief and rolled her eyes. "No, Marlene," she shot a glare towards the slightly younger woman, whose grin remained unwavering despite her friend's deadly look. "You don't have to kiss anyone if you don't want to."

"What?" Yuffie gave Barret a gentle punch in the arm and tugged on Marlene's shoe. "I figured that she's old enough to do that, right? There _are_ some cute boys here, you know…" Yuffie extended her arm across the crowd.

Barret spun towards Yuffie with a frown heavy on his face. "I'll be _DAMNED_ if Marlene's gon' be kissin' anyone for the next thirty years!"

Four.

People had been counting down for the last minute or so, and now they were closing in on midnight. A new year. Emotions were heightened and overall everyone's spirits were bright—a welcome sight to be seen in a previously-dreary city.

Three.

Cloud's hand returned to rest on her waist once more and pulled her back to his side.

Two.

"…Cloud?"

He looked at her.

"Actually, I think there's something I want for next year."

He raised his eyebrows. "What's that?"

One.

"I want to be happy," she paused for a moment before continuing.

Slowly, a smile spread across his face and he nodded.

Zero.

All at once, what seemed like a thousand fireworks went off together and the whole sky was illuminated with every color imaginable. The sparks formed various shapes and letters-hearts, smiling faces, even some rocket ships—Tifa wondered how they managed to do that. Maybe she would ask Cid sometime.

"I don't think Beckett's very interested in me," Cloud's voice was quiet and even had a hint of disappointment; it was hard to for Tifa to tell if he was being serious or not. She looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face, her eyebrows raised and her eyes wide. Cloud finally turned to her. "I guess I'm just gonna have to settle with someone else."

Tifa giggled and hopped onto her tiptoes; her lips met his and at first she intended to pull away quickly, but stayed when she felt one his gloved hands come around to gently rest behind her neck. Their lips softened and they let themselves enjoy the kiss, despite some of the mocking cat calls and hollers directed towards them from some of their closest companions. Eventually they pulled away to admire the last of the light show.

"Happy New Year's, Cloud," Tifa blushed.


	6. The City of Lilies

"…When are we getting there?"

The voice was nothing more than a tiny mumble, and the roar of wind whipping every which way didn't help Cloud to hear any better. The lump in front of him shifted uncomfortably upon Fenrir's worn leather seat. He didn't say much at first; he wasn't even sure where he was anymore. It was so late and he was already so tired…it wouldn't have surprised him if he had made a wrong turn somewhere. He leaned forward, tucking the young boy under his chest and trying his best to shield him from the chilly air.

"We'll be there soon, Denzel."

He had never felt so much like a sardine in a can before in his life. With Denzel at his front and Marlene wrapped in Tifa's arms behind him, it was a wonder that no one had fallen off. In any other circumstance, they would have found a more efficient way of long-distance traveling; unfortunately, Deepground hadn't given them much of a choice. There was barely enough time for Cloud to make it back to Edge before the entire city was put on lockdown, let alone enough time to gather the pieces of his oddball family and evacuate the city with the rest of the citizens. He was now currently in the process of kicking himself in the ass for not listening to Tifa when she told him not to continue making his deliveries for the week—the signs had been there for a few weeks that Deepground's siege on Edge was eminent. What if he hadn't made it there in time? They wouldn't have had too many other ways of getting out of the city, if any. And if they did, there would be no way of finding them for at least a week. Despite the WRO's best attempts to establish new phone lines and maintain the ones that were still operational, both landlines and cell towers were, for the most part, useless. The north side of Edge was already under attack by the time they had left; there was no telling what would be left of the city by the time they were able to— _if_ they were able to—return. Tifa had tried not to frighten the children and therefore kept her lips shut for the most part when questioned about why they had to leave home in such a rush; Marlene had been too sleepy to give it much thought, but Cloud knew that the idea of leaving home had been bothering Denzel.

"Cloud?"

He shifted his gaze back momentarily to the little girl pressed tightly against his back. Her long braid had come undone and now her hair was flying in every which direction, mingling with strands of Tifa's own chocolate hair as she dozed in and out with her forehead resting at the base of his neck. The idea of the two having to untangle themselves from one another made him laugh, if only a little.

"Do you think Elmyra is gonna have something to eat? I'm hungry…" Her small voice trailed off as she rested her head against his back and her fists clenched around his dark shirt. It was nearly two in the morning; it was a wonder that she was awake, let alone hungry. She had been asleep for at least a few hours when Tifa had whisked her away to join Cloud and Denzel downstairs.

He shook his head slowly. "I don't know," He flashed her a faint, tired smile. "But she knows that you're coming, so maybe she's got something planned." Elmyra had since moved to the countryside in a little village called Yeva, still not too far from Kalm but enough to keep herself safe from the current bloodshed surrounding them all. She inhabited a small cottage and had recently begun to maintain a small chocobo farm; it was impressive for a woman who was now in her mid-seventies. But that was who Elmyra was. Tifa, Barret and Cloud had spoken with her several weeks earlier and established that the children would stay with her in the event that Deepground made any attempts to attack Edge; the three had all made an agreement to assist Reeve with whatever he made need with his coordination with the WRO in the meantime. After all, these attacks on the city had been assumed to be inevitable. The areas surrounding Edge were still considered too dangerous to safely inhabit, and while the WRO had several shelters established for refugees it wasn't necessarily an ideal or healthy place for the children to be for a long period of time. Crowded and probably not very sanitary, the thought of sending the kids to a shelter had made the slightly-germaphobe side of Tifa cringe. There was no telling how long this fighting would go on, but they could only hope that they would be gone for a week or two at most.

The road seemed to stretch on forever, and Cloud could feel the weight of all other parties shifting on him as they began to drift in and out of consciousness. Another forty-five minutes went by before he finally saw a bright, large sign on the side of the road that read:

 _Yeva_

 _Welcome to the City of Lilies!_

 _Population: 5,748_

Thank Gaia.

And just as the sign indicated, white and pink-trimmed lilies steadily lined the dirt path leading into the small town. Yeva was widely known across the continent for its beautiful flowers that seemed to grow at all times of the year. Cloud had always made it a point to bring some home for Tifa whenever he had deliveries to make in the area; after all, lilies were her favorite. But for now, these flowers just made him happy with the thought that soon enough, he would have his two feet on the ground again. He could feel Tifa stirring behind him. Maybe she smelled the flowers.

"Oh, we're here…" Tifa's grip tightened on his waist as she straightened upright to study her new surroundings. "Cloud, look at how pretty they are."

He turned back and gave her a fatigued smile. Her eyes were barely open but she had that optimistic smile of hers slowly spreading across her face as she took in the sight of the flowers she loved so much; it gave him a little more life watching her absorb it all. "…We're almost at Elmyra's. You might want to wake Marlene up."

She gave him a gentle squeeze and nodded before resting her head against his shoulder.

* * *

It was nearly three-thirty in the morning by the time Fenrir pulled into Elmyra's drive. Before them stood a small but welcoming country cottage with yellow and white flowers growing in window planters at every window; they were the same flowers that grew in Aerith's church-Elmyra's way of keeping her daughter with her every day. Cloud drew in a breath and arched his back before lifting a tired Denzel from his lap and onto the ground, following after him and then helping Tifa off of the motorcycle. Marlene was practically in a coma and slumped forward without Tifa's hold on her. The young woman gently scooped Marlene back into arms and shook her head a few times in a last-ditch effort to keep herself awake just a little longer. The four approached the front door and Cloud gently knocked on the thick wooden door; the echo of it could be heard resonating through the entire house on the other side. As if someone on the other side had been expecting them for a lifetime, it swung open and an old, familiar but welcome face greeted them.

"...It's been a long time."

Tifa smiled and reached out with her free arm without hesitation, taking Elmyra into a strong hug. "You look so wonderful, Elmyra," She let out a lighthearted laugh. "It looks like all of this fresh air is doing you some good."

Elmyra gave a gentle smile. "Isn't it wonderful out here? You can see the stars and really smell the flowers here…" Her voice trailed off. "I feel a lot less lonely out here. Kind of ironic, isn't it?" She reached out with a pair of worn knuckles and gently brushed several pieces of stray hair from Marlene's sleeping face, the tips of her fingers sliding across her pink hair bow. She turned her attention towards the young boy standing between the couple and grinned. "How have you been, Denzel?"

Denzel gave her a stifled smile that was barely visible in the dark of the night, but didn't say anything. His eyes shifted down to the ground and to his shoes.

Tifa gently placed a hand on his back, chuckling softly. "He's had a long night," Her smile faded slightly. "We all have, I think."

Elmyra gave a nod, moving aside to let the four into her home. "I'm sure you have. I'm sorry that it's come to this; I was really hoping that we wouldn't all see each other in such a situation," she looked to Cloud. "You did the right thing. The WRO has plenty of troops patrolling the town-I don't think I've felt safer anywhere else."

Cloud gently nudged Tifa forward with a protective arm around her waist, and herded Denzel inside with the other. "I don't think you'll have any problems here. Deepground isn't looking for the small places," He carefully watched Tifa as Marlene began to slip from her arm; Elmyra must have been watching as well as she quickly helped to adjust the sleeping girl in Tifa's hold and motioned for her to follow her upstairs. Tifa looked back to Cloud and gave Denzel a gentle brush against the cheek with her long fingers as she breezed past.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to put Marlene to bed."

The boys watched as the two women trudged sleepily up the stairs, disappearing around a dark corner presumably into a bedroom set aside for the children. Both were initially silent; Denzel continued to stare at his feet in some distant thought while Cloud took the opportunity to lean against the door and close his eyes, if only for a moment. He knew that if he sat down, he wasn't going to get back up—this was for the best.

Cloud wondered how long this fighting would last. He was beginning to have second thoughts about joining the WRO in their battles. He had met up with Reeve in Kalm shortly after the city had been ravaged by war and had seen all of the damage and death caused by Shinra's remnant. The image made his stomach twist; Shinra had never been associated with anything positive, but knowing that this was a group of elite soldiers that had nothing stopping them from snapping anyone or anything in half like a toothpick made his blood boil. And he didn't want Tifa on the front lines with him, but he knew that wasn't going to stop her. She had made that abundantly clear in the previous discussions they had had together a few weeks earlier.

Something tugged on his left sleeve.

Cloud's eyes flickered open and fell upon Denzel, who stood at his feet with his head still lowered towards his feet.

"...Denzel?"

"I don't want you guys to leave."

Cloud's blonde brows furrowed as he folded his arms across his chest. "It won't take very long."

Denzel's lips twisted from one direction to the other several times, a movement that Cloud had known to associate with Denzel mulling _something_ over—he only knew that because he, too, did that. Tifa was right; it looked like he _had_ passed some quirks onto Denzel.

"Denzel-"

The boy's eyes locked with Cloud's, and he could finally see the tears brimming over his eyelids. Such a strong show of emotion surprised Cloud; ever the optimist much like Tifa, it was rare that Denzel ever got very upset about something. "I'm going to be an orphan again if you guys die, you know," he shuffled his feet against the worn hardwood floor.

Cloud's eyes widened and he took in a sharp breath. What the hell was he supposed to say to _that_? "Don't say something like that."

'Why?" Denzel suddenly tensed and his arms dropped to his side. "You know it could happen. I hear Deepground does all sorts of things to people that haven't done anything wrong. I hear that they killed a bunch of people with kids in Junon a few days ago, and it wouldn't surprise me—"

In an instant, Cloud was kneeling before the boy with his fiery eyes burning holes into Denzel. " _Don't say that_ ," he shook his head.

Denzel was silent for several minutes. His head lowered back to the ground, and Cloud watched wordlessly as a few tears slipped from Denzel's cheeks and onto his dirtied shoes. He shifted once more on his feet in an effort to break away from Cloud's intense stare. "I just don't want you guys to leave. Because my parents said that they would come back, too…" his little voice caught in his throat, "…but they didn't."

Cloud bit his lip and watched the ten year-old for a moment longer. But before he could even open his mouth to respond, Denzel collapsed and his arms were around Cloud's neck with his head resting against his shoulder. Initially frozen, his arms slowly wrapped around the sobbing child and held him close. They had all lost someone. Cloud and Tifa had both lost their parents in ways that no child should ever have to—Marlene, too. Cloud remained still as he simply let Denzel be sad, angry, even vengeful if that's what he wanted to feel. Because they had all felt those emotions at one point or another, too.

Slowly, he pulled the child away from him and flashed a tired smile as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "I have something for you, Denzel."

Denzel wiped his face with his sleeve and curiously watched as his idol dug in his pockets before quickly grabbing one his smaller hands and tucking something small securely inside of it. Cloud leaned closer with his voice barely above a whisper as his eyes occasionally shot to the stairs and back.

"This is my promise to you that I'll come back," he paused for a moment. "That _we'll_ come back."

Sensing the urgency in Cloud's stern voice, Denzel gave him one last look seeking approval to open his clasped hands before doing so. Between his fingers laid a small, dark-stained wooden box. He carefully opened it and his eyes immediately grew wide; he looked to Cloud in wonder. "…Is this for Tifa?"

Cloud nodded.

Denzel looked back into his hands. "I don't know if I should hold onto this…"

"It's alright—I trust you," Cloud placed a gloved hand on the boy's shoulder, "but you can't tell Marlene. She doesn't always keep secrets very well. You should know that, though. You have to promise me that you'll keep that safe for now."

The boy quickly nodded and sent his chestnut shaggy hair flying every which way. His tears had quickly been replaced by a look of awe and a big smile—a smile that grew with the knowledge that his idol had trusted him with something so important.

Heavy, tired footsteps clunked down the creaky staircase followed by a pair of daintier, older ones. Denzel shoved the box into the pocket of his jeans and spun on his heels clumsily, joining Cloud at his side. Tifa ran a hand through her thick chocolate hair and let out a heavy sigh as she approached them, her cheeks still rosy from riding Fenrir in the chilly air for so long. She held her arms out and threw them around Denzel, squeezing him so tightly as she fell to her knees that there was no way he could escape. "…I'm going to miss you Denzel."

Denzel threw his arms around her neck and buried his face into her shoulder. Cloud could see the tears threatening to spill over again, but Denzel quickly brushed them off on her vest and pulled away slightly. "I'm going to miss you too…" He stopped for a moment, shooting a glance past her shoulder to Cloud before continuing. "But it's only for a little while right?"

Tifa smiled. "Of course. Everything will be alright," She gave him one last crunching embrace before rising back to her feet and joining Cloud at the doorway, allowing his hand to rest at the dimples on her back. "We'll be back in no time."

Cloud looked at the young woman by his side. Although tired, her beauty never seemed to fade in the slightest and if anything, he thought she was the most beautiful when her hair fell in some of the wrong places and her voice was just a little hoarse with fatigue. Her eyes met his, and he felt like they were taking in each other for an eternity before Elmyra's voice broke the silence.

"I'll make sure that Denzel keeps busy with all of the chocobos out there," The old woman laughed and placed a firm hand on the boy's head, ruffling his hair.

Tifa giggled. "Good. But just make sure he doesn't come home with one," She gave a slight wink to Denzel. Denzel and Marlene had been begging for a chocobo chick for a long time now; Cloud couldn't help but laugh at the fact that they still didn't seem to have too great of a grasp of the concept that while they start out small, chocobos _do_ get big. And the Seventh Heaven was _not_ big. But regardless, Denzel and Tifa were smiling at this very moment and it didn't feel like anyone in the room was heading straight into a battle.

Cloud's hand shifted to Tifa's hip and nudged her ever so slightly towards Fenrir, parked right outside in the frigid air. "I think we're going to have to get going, unfortunately. We're meeting Reeve tomorrow morning to figure out what our part is in this mess," He looked to Denzel.

"Cloud and I'll be alright. Don't worry about us, okay? Have fun while you're here. The chocobos are definitely fun," Tifa smirked as she ran a swift hand through Cloud's spikes. The pair gave each other a reassuring glance before approaching Elmyra once more, Tifa giving the woman a gentle hug before turning back.

Cloud looked over his shoulder to Denzel. The boy patted his pocket gently, that same grin as before spreading across his face. He smiled.

"What are you smiling about?"

He snapped back and looked at his companion. Tifa had a smug smirk on her face; clearly his smile never failed to amuse her as he had seen that smile on her face so many times before whenever she looked at him. And it always sent electricity through him. He shook his head slowly. "...Nothing." He took her hand and helped her mount Fenrir before hopping on himself, allowing her to grip his waist tightly before he turned over the engine. From the corner of his eye he caught her suspicious stare, but brushed it off as he revved the engine.

He had plenty of reasons to come home, regardless of what was in Denzel's pocket. And he'd be damned if he didn't come home without Tifa. He wasn't ever going to limit her to anything because he knew that she would never let him—and quite frankly he didn't want to-but that was alright. He was there to protect her, just like he had promised all of those years ago.

That ring was just a little more incentive to make it home in one piece.


	7. Hello, Goodbye

Play the game "spot-the-reference" to another character in the compilation...

* * *

With feet that seemed like they couldn't carry him fast enough, Cloud flew down a flight of stairs and fell to his knees to sit beside a limp figure laying at the landing.

 _This_ was why he could never make SOLDIER.

He gingerly scooped the young woman up and with eyes wide and trembling hands, searched her body for any signs of life. Breathing, a pulse, _anything_ that would indicate that he wasn't too late to save her—unlike the others. Blood covered nearly every inch of her body from the neck down; underneath the blood was a deep wound that stretched from her collarbone down to her lowest rib; the sight in and of itself was enough to make Cloud want to vomit in disgust.

"…Tifa," his voice barely above a whisper in an effort to keep any danger away. "Tifa?"

The burgundy eyes that he had spent so long wanting to look into for hours and hours in his youth remained closed, and her body eerily motionless against his chest. Her skin was a sickly pale color that he had never seen before and his leather gloves stuck to her skin, drenched with cold sweat. Maybe she was dying…

For what seemed like forever, the lowly infantryman held her close and still as if trying to hold every remaining ounce of life in her. She seemed—she _was_ —so fragile, he felt like moving her in the slightest would cause her to shatter into a million pieces. Sephiroth had hurt her so badly…and he hadn't been there to stop him. Why hadn't he been there? Why couldn't he have been strong enough to be a SOLDIER? The questions raced through his mind at a mile a minute, but it wouldn't make a difference now. Tifa was wounded, and the damage was already done—the one person whose attention he had wanted more than anything on this planet for the entirety of his life was dying in his arms and there wasn't anything that he could do to stop it now. He continued to search her gentle face for the smallest glimmer of hope that she would live…the smallest glimmer of hope that when this nightmare was over, they would be able to have the reunion that they deserved but never got.

A sigh.

His grip on her shoulders tightened. Slowly, Tifa's head lulled to one side against his forearm, and her eyelids tightened.

Cloud hadn't realized before that the edges of his vision had begun to grow hazy from the lack of oxygen until he let out all of the air from his lungs. She had at least moved.

"Hey…" his voice carried through the mako-thickened, stale air a little more as he gave her another firm shake. Again, the young woman didn't stir but he could at least feel her feeble breaths through his sweater. With one shaking hand, he traced the outline of her jaw and allowed his fingers to dig into her deep, thick brown hair. As if he expected his touch to give her extra life—and perhaps it did in one way or another—he allowed his palm to rest flush to her cheek, a faint and sad smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Her presence seemed a little more tangible to him now and while this was never a situation that he had imagined either of them to be in, this tiny moment of quiet with her was all he had wanted for so long.

A _crash_.

And then the deafening sound of electricity as it shot every which way. The sound was still distant but only from one room over—the nightmare wasn't over. Cloud debated whether or not he should take Tifa and make a run for it while Sephiroth still hadn't seen him...

"…Cloud…"

A different voice called for him. Cloud's head twisted back to see yet another familiar, weakened figure laying crumpled against some of the steam piping that supplied the reactor with its power.

 _Zack._

The SOLDIER lifted a finger to the brightly illuminated room waiting at the top of the stairs, where the shadow of someone could be seen walking back and forth as if pondering what to do next. "Cloud…finish him off."

Cloud really wish he hadn't said that.

Hesitating, he remained still and he clutched his dear friend even tighter. He couldn't leave Tifa here to die. But he couldn't leave Zack here to die, either. After all, maybe that wouldn't make him any better than the monsters contained within these mako pods.

What felt like yet another eternity passed. Cloud knew that if he was going to save anyone, including himself, he would have to face the man that he had looked up to for so long. The thought of a childhood spent once idolizing Sephiroth made him nauseous once more.

 _How could I have been so stupid?_

Finally, his resolve to stay by Tifa's side broke and carefully, he placed her back down onto the metal floor. Letting his hand slide gently over her arm one last time, he bit his lip and forced himself to look away from the grim scene of her limp form, only to find himself greeted with another, of Zack. He glanced over his shoulder one last time before taking the handle of the Buster Sword into his hands once more, his grip tightened by a flood of violent emotions ranging anywhere from sadness to purely homicidal. That shadowy, tall and sleek figure loomed above them all at the top of the staircase. Cloud's voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke to the girl at his feet.

"I'll come back when it's all over. I promise."

But he didn't.


	8. Quietus

"I'm so sorry."

Tifa's head fell into her arms and she rested her elbows on her knees, kneeling with cool water lapping her knees. Tears stung her face and as much as she wanted to scream, but she couldn't make a sound. Her own choked sobs filled the cold air; the others had chosen to grieve a little quieter but nonetheless the atmosphere suddenly felt so much heavier on them all.

She had remembered the way that Aerith's green eyes widened, and then dimmed all at once as her life slipped away from her. The way that her body fell, and the look of absolute horror on Cloud's face as he tried so hard to wake her…the horrid image of it all was still seared in her mind. All tangible proof that their friend ever even existed was her body, now laying at the bottom of this spring. Aerith had succeeded in her casting of Holy and the summoning of the lifestream, but that wouldn't change the fact that their flower girl had been taken from the Planet far too soon. She would no longer be able to brighten the bleak world with her presence and radiating positivity; there wouldn't be anyone to tend to the flowers in Sector 5 anymore. But more than anything else, Tifa had lost one of her best friends. Although intimidated at first by her reserved demeanor, she quickly found Aerith's unbreakable spirit refreshing. She had come to know the tragic story behind how the flower girl had ended up in the slums in the first place, and she couldn't help but admire the strength and courage that her friend possessed knowing that ultimately, her sole purpose was to protect this planet at any cost.

But none of them would have thought that the price to pay in the end was death.

She could feel herself shaking. Her quiet weeping had now turned to a dismal wail; she couldn't hear anyone else joining in her sorrow but she didn't care. After Aerith's death, Tifa had tried so hard to be the spirit that lifted her comrades up. But many times, it felt like she wasn't doing a good enough job.

All of a sudden, a firm hand rested atop her shoulder. Everyone else had seemed so far away from her just a bit ago mourning in their own ways—she hadn't even realized that one of them had snuck up behind her. Tifa lifted her head and quickly brushed away some tears with the back of her hand before twisting back, her eyes meeting a pair of ethereally blue ones. What was there to say? They had all just lost someone dear. If it hadn't been for Aerith finding him in the church, Cloud might not be around now either. She had saved them all in one way or another. But maybe Cloud felt the same way, because he simply knelt beside her and let the chilly water cover his legs.

Her stomach cramped and her lungs begged for air. She just _couldn't_ stop. Every pent up emotion inside her had come pouring out all at once, and it felt like there was no end to it. Anger, sadness, guilt, confusion—she could feel it all with such an intensity that it was making her nauseous. The strong hand resting on her shoulder disappeared but was quickly replaced by a pair of arms that encircled her and pulled her closer. In one surprising motion, Cloud's cheek gently pressed against hers. "…It's okay, Tifa."

Tifa shook her head quickly. Between hiccups and gasps, all she could manage to squeak out was. "…Should have—done," Her voice fell softer as she tried so hard to overcome her tears. "…more."

Cloud slowly shook his head; blonde spikes obscured Tifa's field of view. "There's nothing that you could have done."

She could hear the guilt in his voice. Cloud felt like _he_ should have done more; she even feared that maybe he had believed that _he_ should have been the one to die instead of Aerith. No one wanted anyone to die. The tears that felt down her cheeks slowed, and she turned to face her friend with their noses just barely touching. "You couldn't have done anything either, Cloud. Don't think that it was your fault…"

Her friend didn't say anything.

"…Cloud?"

"Hmm?"

Tifa's hands went from hanging at her sides and rested atop of his arms. "I'm glad you're here."

Again, he remained silent for a long while. But eventually he released her and retreated from the water, rising with his blue slacks dripping onto the top of her head. Cloud extended his hand to her; she took it and in one quick movement she was back onto her feet as well. The two looked back to their friends. Cloud's hand gently encouraged her forward.

"I'm thinkin' it's 'bout time we get goin'," Cid mumbled under his breath. He spun on his heels and flicked an expended cigarette butt from his mouth and into the sand. "This place is givin' me the damn creeps," One by one, their comrades followed behind and soon it felt like they were once more miles and miles away.

Tifa rested her head against her companion's shoulder, closing her eyes as they trudged back towards the airship in the murky distance. She could sleep forever, it seemed. She had done enough crying to last her an entire lifetime. They both looked back; this was the last time that they were going to see Aerith for a while. This was goodbye for now.

Cloud gently squeezed her side with a gloved hand, pressing her to his side just a little more. Out of the corner of her eye, Tifa could see one of the rare smiles spread across his face. It was small and weary, but it was there nonetheless. "…We're going to be okay."

She watched his face for a moment longer. It gave her at least a little hope for the future. They might not have a home to return to back in Midgar, but that was alright. If he said that they were going to be okay, then that was enough for her. They _had_ to be okay, right?


	9. Therapeutic Silence

Sorry about the delay in updates! School has been chaotic to say the least, and I hope to be a little more consistent in posting new content soon here.

* * *

Tifa had never really cared much for mashed potatoes, but after this she wasn't sure if she was ever going to be able to look at a potato for the rest of her life without gagging a little. With the push of some fingers the plastic tray covered in nearly-untouched plates sitting in front of her slid to the other side of a cramped bedside table, where it joined several other untouched meal trays. Some were set there for her—some weren't. The only sounds resonating throughout the empty clinic was the occasional door slamming or some footsteps from the doctors and nurses. Other than that…nothing but the beeping of a small screen above her head. A thin lead fell from the screen and ended at a small clasp, where it attached to a motionless finger.

She rose to her aching feet, wincing as every joint and tendon in her body cracked and popped. Only a few feet away in the cramped room was a curtained window. Tifa pulled the dusty curtains quietly to one side and allowed herself to smile as rays of sunlight hit her face for what felt like the first time in ten years. She closed her eyes and took in a deep inhale. Was that the scent of grass and maybe a hint of chocobo manure? Regardless of whatever it was, she welcomed it with open arms. It was a break from the mundane…and depressing. She turned back to a form laying in the wheelchair, the grin lingering on her face as the sunlight spread to every corner of the room. "…Cloud, it's so beautiful outside. Do you want to go and see?"

No response.

And reality struck again. The room seemed a little darker now and the outdoors didn't seem so appealing anymore.

 _Mako poisoning…_

That's what the doctor had told her when the party stumbled across the clinic and had found Cloud. Tifa had never seen anything like it before—she had never been so scared of someone who couldn't even communicate before in her life.

 _Quite an advanced case, I'm afraid…_

But she wasn't frightened by Cloud and his condition anymore. Just sad. Sad and angry. Seeing those blue eyes that were now just a little too green made her angry. She remembered lashing out at the doctor shortly after the group had first stumbled across Cloud at the clinic. Why weren't they doing more? Cloud was obviously sick—even "close to death", as some of the nurses had put it—why wasn't anyone doing anything to _help_ him?

Tifa found her former resting position in the worn chair at his side. Now he was sleeping, or so she thought, and the stark reminders that there wasn't really anything the doctors here _could_ do to help him came rushing back. Although asleep, his body held its same rigid form and his face seemed contorted in a perpetual state of discomfort. Was he in pain? Slowly, one of her palms rested against his cheek and her head ducked to meet his empty gaze. "It's okay. I'm here."

No one at the clinic seemed to know if he could hear any of them. But, then again, none of them had seen such an extreme case of mako poisoning. One of the nurses who came to check on Cloud—and her—regularly said that there wasn't any harm to speaking to him. If coma patients could sometimes here those around them…who was to say that Cloud couldn't hear?

Cloud didn't move in the slightest. His eyes didn't flicker open when he awoke like they used to, and he didn't stretch his arms above his head and greet her like he had done most mornings on their journeys. Maybe the doctor was right, after all. Maybe this person sitting before them all wasn't in fact a person at all anymore. This was a shell, and the Cloud that she knew was long gone.

Her fingers gently stroked his sunken, pale cheeks for what felt like an eternity, before moving down to pet his forearm, careful to avoid the needles and tubes of Gaia-knew-what supposedly keeping him alive. The clinic's attempts of trying to feed him were found to not work fairly early on, and they had resorted to giving him the nutrients he needed through these IVs. Now, the trays that were set by the wheelchair were most of the time, hers—but she knew that some of the nurses were trying to give her some sense of normalcy by putting food there for him. Too bad nothing felt any more normal. She wasn't even sure what some of these medicines in his arm did—but as long as Cloud remained in this state, Tifa wasn't sure if she even really cared anymore. If it wasn't going to bring him back to her, what was the use?

Sometimes, she could hear Cloud's voice in her head. Not necessarily saying anything in particular, but he was there. Sometimes it was a memory of a time long gone-even his little, soft voice as a young teen vowing to find and protect her in a pinch. Other times, it was his laughter, albeit quiet, poking fun at her for something that Barret scolded her for like a protective father. The scariest parts were when she couldn't hear him at all. That was when Tifa felt the loneliest—that was when she felt that her Cloud was truly gone.

And it was these same times that the tears began to flow more freely. Tifa could feel her eyes stinging and her throat burning as she tried choking back the overwhelming hopelessness that began to set in. Her fingernails dug slightly into Cloud's blanched forearm, and she bit her lip as she allowed one tear to fall from her equally-worn face. Then another.

 _Maybe someday, you'll get to meet the 'real' Cloud…_

Maybe she never would. Her fingers danced mindlessly over Cloud's arms, then up his neck and stroked his cheeks once more. Maybe her touch could bring him back, maybe it couldn't—but there wasn't any harm in trying. If he were conscious or in any other way aware of her touch, she would never dare touch him so intimately. But as that monitor beeped above and Cloud remained catatonic in his chair, embarrassing herself was the least of her worries. She wiped her eyes with the back of a hand that felt limply into her lap; consciousness was getting harder to maintain and maybe soon she would end up in the same state as her companion. Getting sleep was something that was not high on her list of priorities as of late and she had spent much of her time in this clinic watching over Cloud, talking to him, attempting to feed him, combing his wild hair every once and a while, trying to keep him—and herself—entertained for the remainder of their stay…however long that would be.

Tifa wondered what everyone else was up to right now. Barret had called her earlier in the week and spoken with her for a while—something about a trip to Fort Condor—she hadn't been paying much attention. Other than him and the occasional nurse that offered to exchange a few words with her before rushing out, that was about the only human contact she had had in the past few weeks. Maybe people thought she was a little crazy, putting in so much effort into someone who might not even be aware of her presence in her slightest. But she had promised herself that she would be there with him until the end and she didn't intend to ever break that promise. Not while she still had any life in her body.

But the end may be coming sooner than any of them expected.

The young woman's fingers stopped, and she leaned against his knees. "Hey, Cloud?"

Still, no response.

"Remember when we went to the Gold Saucer a couple of weeks ago…?"

The monotonous beeping signaling that Cloud's heart was in fact still beating lingered on.

Tifa sighed. Her right hand fell back down to gently grip Cloud's wrist. "Well, I've been thinking about that night a lot lately…" She paused. The tears were threatening to spill all over again. "I had a lot of fun. It was a needed break from everything that's been going on lately; I just wanted to thank you again for coming along with me. Maybe I wasn't really your first pick, but…" She stopped abruptly again and closed her eyes, tears carving fresh streaks on her cheeks. She sniffled and slipped her fingers into his, enjoying the warmth of his hand against her cold one. "I want to do that again someday."

A sigh.

Did he hear her?

Her head cocked to one side, she leaned in just a little closer. "…Cloud?"

His breathing continued on in its almost mechanical nature. Wishful thinking. Instead of opening his eyes, Cloud slumbered on in his unnatural, mako-induced coma.

Tifa bit her lip and wiped her face dry with the back of an ungloved hand. It had been so long since she had taken her gloves off…she was almost surprised to see her hands again. Let alone wrapped up around Cloud's. Although, this wasn't quite how she had _ever_ imagined it. And his hands, ungloved but still so calloused and torn from wielding that heavy sword were perfect to her nonetheless. Nothing of him—even in this state—was short of perfection. From the messy hair that didn't want to stay put no matter how much she combed it to the dirt that always seemed present on his cheeks regardless of how many times she wiped them clean, she could finally admit that she was in love with every single bit of it.

A roll of thunder. The one downside to this stupid island was that it could go from sunny to raining in the snap of some fingers.

"You know, I didn't really know what I wanted to say when we were sitting in that gondola. But you know something? I think I'm starting to figure it out—what to say, I mean," Tifa was mentally kicking herself in the ass. Even with Cloud in his catatonic state, she still couldn't seem to put sentences together right around him without fumbling with her words like an idiot. "I care about you a lot, Cloud. That night made me realize that while you don't think that I've ever met the 'real' you…I think I have. I've known the real Cloud for a long, long time. And I'm crazy about him," she laughed softly. "That probably sounds really dumb, right? Like something from one of those cheesy books that we caught Cid reading that one time…" She giggled once more.

But her smile slowly faded as she studied Cloud's face. Unmoving and gaunt. Her lips pursed and with the squeeze of his hand, she leaned just a little closer. "…You know I'm going to stay here, right?"

The doctor told her that there was a good chance that she would never get her friend back. And even if Cloud could never spoke another word to her, she would be damned if she was going to leave him to waste away in this clinic. If taking care of him until the day she died was the only way to do it, then so be it. It wouldn't ever be the romance story that she had imagined so many times, but he would be with her until the end and that was all she had _ever_ wanted.

"I love you, Cloud. Just know that, okay?"

Silence.


	10. A Million Miles Away

I'm not usually too into song fics, but for whatever reason I've had this song stuck in my head for some time now and I felt like it would be an opportunity for a cute oneshot. All credit goes to "Moon Song" by Karen O.

* * *

'OPEN' turned to 'CLOSED'.

Tifa let out a heavy sigh as she rubbed her eyes with one hand. It had been a particularly long day, and nothing sounded better than a long shower and a comfortable bed to lie in. Turning back to face the bar, she saw the remnants of her patrons—glasses, plates and bowls, the occasional phone number left behind on a used napkin for either her or another poor woman who was unfortunate enough to get stuck talking to some inebriated man. Tables and chairs sat disorganized and out of their usual order; Friday nights were always a sight to behold as the bar never quit moving. Even after closing, it was not uncommon for her to have to boot several ornery customers with nothing better to do with their time than to drink out onto the street. The bar was chaotic enough without stubborn patrons—she didn't need to wake the children with the incessant yelling and commotion that typically followed confrontations such as that so early in the morning.

Quietly—almost like a mouse—came footsteps. Heavier than Denzel or Marlene's tiny feet, these footsteps had experience tip-toeing their way around things. She shot a kind smile as a mess of blonde hair rounded the corner of the stairwell; Cloud had apparently woken from his sleep. It was a rare occasion that he came home before she closed, let alone fall asleep a few hours before; she had even felt his forehead upon his arrival home as to make sure he wasn't falling ill. But he had told her that his deliveries ended early that day, and in turn he had been tasked with making sure that Denzel and Marlene completed their homework before heading off to bed. Thank Gaia, too—math was most certainly not Tifa's strong suit. Cloud was a man of few words to many, but he at least knew his numbers pretty well.

"What are you doing out of bed, Cloud? It's nearly three in the morning," Tifa continued to wipe down a table and scoop dishes into a container to be washed.

He said nothing at first, but instead took a glass from the top shelf of the bar and poured himself a glass of water from the tap. After drawing out a long sip, he resolved to sitting at the bar and watched her preform her closing duties. "…I wanted to make sure that everything was alright down here."

It earned a small laugh. "What? Were you afraid I was going to have to fight off some nasty bar customers? Trust me, I don't think they could do so much as stand up without falling over when they're that drunk."

He chuckled softly, taking another sip of his water. "Just making sure…I know how it gets on the weekend, sometimes."

Tifa stopped wiping the tables, a realization dawning on her as she placed her hands on her hips, dirty rag still in hand. "…Is that why you came home so early, Cloud Strife? To be my protector against the evils of alcoholics?"

"I just wasn't sure if you could handle it is all," He gave her a small shrug of the shoulders, a sly smirk gently tugging at the corners of his lips. He pulled his drink to his lips again and nursed the water, his eyes never shifting away from hers.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, the next time I have to kick someone out, I'll let you know. You can bully them to your heart's content," She grinned.

The two sat in silence for a while; Tifa could feel those cerulean eyes burning holes into her as she glided from one end of the bar and back, scooping up dishes and glasses in her arms and bringing them to the sink. She quickly washed and rinsed the mugs; dishes had become almost a sport to her as she had to do them so often. Sometimes, she made Marlene or Denzel do them as a chore in the mornings but she wanted to be able to sleep in a little tomorrow before she opened for lunch. The only downside to this new Seventh Heaven was the fact that the top dish rack felt as if it were a mile above her; she loved Barret deeply, but sometimes she believed that he had trouble understanding that not everyone was as large as him. She rose onto her toes, still struggling to reach the hook to hang her glass by. She muttered a few choice words as she felt the muscles in her calves being stretched to their limits.

Suddenly, a hand slowly reached above her head and hung the mug for her. Glancing over her shoulder, Cloud wordlessly stood behind her, already placing more glasses up onto the upper rack. She smiled and remained silent, washing plates and bowls. The only noise filling the bar was the whirring of the ceiling fans and a small radio chattering away behind the bar.

 _ **I'm lying on the moon**_

 _ **My dear, I'll be there soon**_

 _ **It's a quiet and starry place**_

 _ **Time's we're swallowed up**_

 _ **In space we're here, a million miles away**_

"…I like this song."

Cloud acknowledged her with a quiet grunt. He listened for a moment, pausing his dish duties.

She lowered her soapy plate into the sink's warm water, abruptly drying her hands on the rag in her waistband. She stepped back, outstretching a hand. "I want to dance."

Just as he had begun to resume his putting away of various white dishes, he stopped again, this time with a bewildered look on his sleepy face.

"Come on," She laughed quietly, shaking her hand with the insistence that he take it. "The song will be over soon if you just keep looking at me like that."

"But…" Cloud's voice trailed off, his face becoming flush. "I don't know how."

The bittersweet realization that Cloud had never danced with anyone before dawned upon Tifa; she had plenty of opportunities to dance with men that she had no interest in. But he never got the chance because life had dealt him a slightly different hand than she. She flashed a gentle smile, turning the volume dial on the radio so that it could be heard more clearly. "…Come on, I'll show you. It's not hard—I promise."

Cautiously, Cloud set down the plate he had been trying to find a home in the cabinets for and followed out from behind the bar until they were standing in a barren spot between the tables.

 _ **There's things I wish I knew**_

 _ **There's no thing I'd keep from you**_

 _ **It's a dark and shiny place**_

 _ **But with you my dear**_

 _ **I'm safe and we're a million miles away**_

She straightened her back, closing the space between them by taking him by the wrists and gently placing his fingers upon her hips. She in turn then wrapped her own arms around his neck, her wine-colored eyes gazing at him with a smile growing upon her tired face. "…And you just sort of sway. It's easy, I told you."

He looked at her for a long time, studying her features carefully before speaking, as if he had suddenly realized that he should say something in return. "I think I can do this."

Tifa laughed softly, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath through her nostrils. He smelled clean—he had showered before going to bed. She laughed to herself of the idea of Cloud doing the same to her; she could only imagine what on Gaia she smelled like right now. Food, alcohol, dish soap, and probably the remnants of some vomit of an inebriated customer that she was forced to clean up. But Cloud didn't seem to mind. She gently rested her head against his shoulder, her forehead brushing the nape of his neck. He was so warm.

His arms, initially remaining at her waist, then spread to envelope her fully, pulling her as close to him as he could. He rested his head atop of hers.

They swayed, wrapped up in each other. Then, slowly, Tifa lifted her head from his shoulder. Cloud lifted his head in turn, and they locked eyes. She gave him a sheepish smiley; her cheeks turned a rosy pink. Even in the dim light, his eyes glowed with that deep hue of electric blue and it had never failed to mesmerize her. She could see green, brown rings—something that she didn't think she had ever been close enough to notice.

She stood on her the tips of her toes once more, no longer reaching for a dish rack. She closed the distance between her face and his, their noses brushing briefly before she ducked her head just a little lower to plant a soft kiss against his lips. When he didn't respond, she pulled away, her eyes wide with embarrassment as she immediately began to panic. Her eyes met his once more, both pairs a little less groggy.

A sleepy smile slowly tugged at the corners of his lips, flashing a few white teeth.

Their lips met again, this time with a mutual understanding of one another. She let herself relax and felt him do so in turn, their mouths becoming just a little more open. The swaying stopped, and she reached a hand up to press against his face, tilting it ever so slightly in the way she wanted it to. This was good.

Life was good.

 _ **We're lying on the moon**_

 _ **It's a perfect afternoon**_

 _ **Your shadow follows me all day**_

 _ **Making sure that I'm okay**_

 _ **And we're a million miles away**_


	11. A Place to Call Home

It had all started in the slums—or at least what was left of them.

Then the rumors began that the mysterious illness was spreading, mostly among the lower class; they were the ones that hadn't been able to evacuate Midgar sooner. Eventually, even the wealthy weren't safe from the Stigma. As the number of people relocating to nearby Edge increased, the greater the fear of this strange illness grew among the public.

Cloud's eyes wandered from the several maps strewn out before him at the booth he had wordlessly claimed as permanently his, and to a small television sitting on a shelf behind the bar.

"… _Upon further investigation, the WRO has advised that the public remain at what it considers to be a safe distance—at least a fifty-mile radius around Midgar—until further notice. The WRO's investigation continues in an effort to unearth the possible cause—and cure-of Geostigma."_

He sighed.

Before recently, he had never come across anyone with a case of the Stigma. That had quickly changed, however, when he met a young boy near the church. Denzel.

Denzel's face had been marked with the signature black bruises, but that hadn't deterred Tifa in the slightest from taking him under her wing. The boy hadn't been able to get out of bed very often since he had come home with Cloud, but nonetheless had seemed to take quite a liking to him. On most other nights, Denzel would sit across the table and simply watch Cloud study his delivery routes. Occasionally, the boy would ask him questions pertaining to everything and anything. Why was the sky blue? Why was his name 'Cloud'? Why weren't there chocobos in this part of the continent?

A gentle hand fell on his shoulder; he jumped.

"Hey, Cloud."

His head twisted back to find an apron-wrapped waist pressed against the back of a booth. His eyes wandered up past a certain part of her anatomy and past messy, dark hair on pale shoulders, to where his eyes met a burgundy pair.

Tifa quickly removed her hand, a soft laugh escaping her lips as she took the rare opportunity of grabbing his attention away from his maps to take a seat across from him. She wiped her hands on her apron, and for a few minutes, didn't say anything at all. Her eyes didn't even meet his initially; the only sound that filled the now-empty bar was the incessant tapping of her boots against the table's feet below.

"Is…something wrong?" Cloud's gaze never wavered from her as his hands fumbled across the table, finding and folding away his routes.

" _Is Geostigma something YOU need to worry about? Stay tuned for more."_

The television rattled on for what felt like forever about the strange illness sweeping the continent. Growing ever more irritated with its constant talk about something that no one seemed to know much about at all, Cloud reached back to the table behind him and grabbed the remote Tifa had left there some time ago for a patron to tune to his liking, and turned it off.

Tifa's feet stopped beating against the table, but her hands remained twisted in front of her. Her tired eyes suddenly looked more awake than they had all day, and this only made Cloud more curious as to what Tifa could have to say that was making her so anxious. He couldn't even think of anything that she could possibly say—not that that was a bad thing necessarily, but neither of them could have said that their lives were very exciting at the moment. Slowly, the woman took a deep breath. "…You know how Denzel has been staying with us for some time?"

He slowly nodded.

"Well," she paused, her head twisting from one side to the other as if doing so was going to help her in forming her thoughts. "I've been thinking that…maybe he should stay with us."

Cloud's eyes finally drifted from hers and to his bag full of maps, which he began haphazardly stuffing with his remaining papers. "You know that I don't mind if he stays here, Tifa. This is your home, after all," he laughed softly. "I'm not going to kick a kid out onto the street."

"What I mean is a little different…"

Cloud stopped and lifted his head back to look at her.

Again, Tifa was silent for a long time. Her hands continued to twist and contort on top of the table, and her feet had gone back to their nervous tapping. "Marlene and Denzel have been getting along really well."

"Okay…"

The young woman across from him inhaled, and all in one breath she blurted, "I think he should be adopted. I mean…I think I want to welcome Denzel into our home here—for good."

Cloud froze. As the weary gears in his head strained to comprehend what she had just said, he wondered why it had such a profound impact on him. Struggling to form words of his own, all he could do in the end was to simply nod in response.

Again, an eternity spent in utter silence passed. The pair sat across from one another, staring at each other like the other had just proclaimed that the sky was yellow. Tifa's feet continued their tapping, but her shoulders had relaxed and all of the air had been expelled from her lungs as if simply making the statement was a physical load off of her chest. As the time continued to tick on, however, Cloud could see the impatience brewing inside of her as she fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat.

She finally spoke-slowly. "…Well?"

Cloud's eyes darted from one end of the bar to the other, as if looking for the answer to her question. "Well…what?"

Tifa blew a huff of air through her nose. "What do you think? About adopting Denzel."

"If that's what you want, then I think you should go ahead and do it."

She was quiet. Eventually, she rose from her seat and gave him a tired, hurried smile as her back faced him and she headed back behind the bar. "…I see."

Cloud knew that she was upset. The fact that the conversation had been grounded to a halt with the simple utterance of his sentence wasn't a promising sign that Tifa was pleased with his answer. He slid out from the booth and took a new seat at the bar, leaning with his elbows against the table despite the manners his mother had taught him long ago. "…Is something wrong?"

Things had been strained between members in the household as of late—particularly between him and Tifa, and everyone seemed to know it—mostly due to the stress of his new delivery service and the sick addition to the household. This exact moment was a rare opportunity in which Cloud was home early enough to have a conversation with her without the possibility of two children butting in; he figured that this may be the best time to at least attempt to resolve some of the conflict surrounding them. He didn't like it any more than she did…Tifa just happened to be better at stating how she felt than he was.

The barmaid quickly shook her head, not even bothering to face him as she reorganized her liquor shelf for what felt like the fifteenth time today. "No, it's alright."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. Next to him sat a small glass with a small amount of alcohol left in it—presumably Tifa's, as she often liked to indulge in a drink or two before heading off to bed. He took it in his hands and turned the glass several times before his eyes before deciding that it was consumable. Before she even had the chance to turn back around, Cloud had gulped down the remaining liquid and had replaced the glass in its former resting place. "You don't seem alright."

He waited.

And waited.

Fifteen minutes passed, and neither had moved from their spots. Tifa had finished revamping her top shelf of quality alcohol, and Cloud had remained in the same cramped barstool, waiting for a reply.

"… _You_ have to be a part of this decision too, Cloud."

Cloud's eyes fell to the tabletop before him, as if he were a child being scolded. As of late, he hadn't been much of one for taking responsibility—let alone for a child. Cloud would never be the one to tell Tifa if she could do something one way or the other, let alone in the adoption of a child—especially considering that if Cloud's lifestyle with the delivery service was to remain the way it was now and Denzel was to stay in the condition he was currently in, Tifa would be the one stuck taking care of him _and_ Marlene, not to mention the Seventh Heaven. In his eyes, she had always been the one whose choice in these decisions ultimately mattered the most.

The empty glass at his side was whisked away, and her voice echoed against the drab walls. "You're part of this family, too. I just want your input on these things…it's important to me, okay?"

He studied her features as she effortlessly scrubbed away at dirty glasses and dishes; he could now see that the previous frustration evident in her expression had melted away to sheer exhaustion. She was no longer the bubbly, ever-optimistic Tifa that he had grown so accustomed to over the past year or so—this was a side of Tifa that suddenly seemed in tune with the rest of humanity at the moment. Worn down.

And for the first time in a while, Cloud could see the beginning of tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

"…Tifa?"

At first, there was no response. His companion continued her scrubbing away at dishes that had been long-cleaned, and she intentionally made every effort not to make eye contact with Cloud. But it was evident that her frustration had reached a boiling point of sorts—the stifled sniffles and tears that didn't quite make it halfway down her face before getting brushed off with the back of a hand made that abundantly clear.

Cautiously, Cloud reached out a hand. His fingers brushed the side of her arm, where a red ribbon tied around her bicep. She flinched away at his touch; in an equally-surprised movement Cloud withdrew.

 _This isn't making things better…_

He opened his mouth. Before he could even think of words to say, Tifa's head snapped in his direction and he could finally see the red, tired eyes. She wasn't crying anymore, but the emotions had left their mark on her and she frowned as she discovered his realization.

" _What_?"

Cloud's mouth remained agape, but his eyes narrowed as he studied her carefully. She had stopped everything now; the only motion in the Seventh Heaven was the ceiling fan rotating crookedly above their heads.

Her tone softened. Suddenly, Tifa became more…Tifa. "Is something wrong?"

The conversation was going to go in circles forever at this rate.

"…I'm sorry that I'm not very good at this 'family' thing."

Although his gaze wasn't meeting hers, he could see her head snap in his direction from his peripheral vision. Her palms rested on the countertop and she silently leaned forward, her head nearly resting on the bar top. The exhaustion had set in once again. Maybe this wasn't the conversation to be having right now…

Or ever.

"You're not bad at this 'family' thing, Cloud," Tifa paused before laughing quietly. "No one is _good_ at it."

Cloud gave a slight shrug of the shoulders, a tired and crooked smile playing at the corners of his lips as his eyebrows raised. "I wish I could give you the answers that you want—that you need—right now, but things aren't that easy right now…" his voice trailed off, and the discussion quickly took a turn like many previous ones with her.

Tifa came around the bar, and once more took a seat at his side in another dilapidated bar stool. She swiveled to face him directly; the action made Cloud uncomfortable as now there was absolutely no way to hide from her. Initially the two remained as rigid at a Buster Sword—but within a few minutes, Tifa decided that she was the one fated to break the tension with a playful nudge of his knee with hers.

"Why don't you tell me things?"

"Things?"

Tifa gave him a disapproving smirk. One that wasn't necessarily condescending, but intimidating—and hard to resist-nonetheless. "You know, the stuff that you always tell me is on your mind whenever I ask you something," she stopped, and her voice grew quiet. "That's what part of being in a family is. You tell each other those things. Even if it doesn't seem like I might understand them sometimes. I just want to know what goes on in your head."

Cloud's heart sunk, and he could feel the ever-looming sense of guilt setting in again. These feelings had resurfaced with a force of tenfold more than before as of late—he wondered if he would ever be able to explain such a feeling in words. But he had to at least try. For her sake.

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to."

He remembered a common saying that Tifa often used to coax something out of him. It had never been anything too serious, but always something that made him fear getting into trouble with her. Tifa was, after all, the last person that he aimed to disappoint. She was the thing keeping him grounded—she was the thing keeping him sane.

She was the thing keeping him happy when nothing else seemed to do so.

 _You tell me, and then I'll decide if I'm mad or not. Okay?_

"I can't explain it very well," again Cloud's mouth remained open as he struggled to find the words, "but I don't really see myself as being good for much around here. Maybe that's why it's hard for me to get along with the kids. Or with you. I don't really think I deserve this sometimes…"

"…Deserve what?"

"This life."

Again, Tifa's face contorted into one of almost disbelief. She said nothing at first, but just stared at—through, really—his eyes as if she was expecting to see the solution to their problems right then and there. "What makes you think that, Cloud?"

He flashed her a faint smile. And just as Tifa's face was before, the exhaustion in Cloud's form became startlingly apparent. "Because this life is good. Being able to say that we all have somewhere to live is good. Being able to say that we work jobs that pay enough for us to live comfortably is a good thing," he stopped.

"…Cloud?"

"Being here with you is good."

If Tifa hadn't been paying enough attention she almost certainly wouldn't have heard it. She could feel her face growing hot, and a smile spread across her face as her optimistic self began to poke through the clouds. She gave him a reassuring nod and another playful nudge of his knee with her hand; her hand rested atop of his and without giving a single thought she left it there. "Having you here is good. Being with you is good, too Cloud."

A smile of his own formed, and Cloud's eyes fell upon the sight of his hand locked in hers. The two sat in silence for several minutes, before Tifa's soft voice broke through the air between them.

"You deserve this life, Cloud. Don't ever think that you don't. That's why I want you to be a part of these decisions. Because they're important ones and that's what families do. They make these types of choices together," her grip on his hand tightened ever so slightly, and her head fell. "…And you're probably the biggest part of it all. So…what do you think?"

"About Denzel?" The topic that had started it all had already begun to slip his mind.

Tifa nodded.

Cloud gave her a gentle, reassuring squeeze of her hand in return. His voice was quiet. "…I think that's a good idea, Tifa."

Again, the weight atop of Tifa seemed to magically lift. She grinned, and tears—this time, ones of joy—began to spill over. She quickly wiped them with the brush of some fingers and laughed, rolling her eyes as she feared embarrassment. She rose from her seat and in that moment, her hand slipped from his but her presence was quickly replaced by her whole body pressed close to his in a tight embrace, her arms nearly choking him. "Then it's settled."

His arms wrapped around her waist, and for a moment he simply enjoyed the smell of her hair and the warmth of her body against his. Tifa soon pulled herself away, perhaps finally realizing the proximity in which she had allowed herself to become so close to Cloud, and whisked away to fetch left-behind items from patrons' tables. Cloud watched as the young woman threw the last remaining dishes from empty tables into the utility sink behind the bar, and made for the stairs with a newfound spring in her step that gave him a reassuring feeling in his gut that while this wasn't a perfect "family" by any means, it was one nonetheless and he belonged _somewhere_ in it.

His companion turned to him with a warm smile on her face, cheeks rosy and messy hair falling every-which-way as she spun at the stairway landing. "…Goodnight, Cloud. I'll see you tomorrow. Okay?"

"Goodnight, Tifa."

"Hey, I..."

He looked at her. She remained frozen with her hand clenching and unclenching the stair railing. Slowly, his companion shook her head and gave him a sleepy smile. "Thank you."

Cloud smiled and nodded.

He watched as the shadow of her figure grew and then shrank in the light at the top of the stairs; the bar grew just a little darker as she flipped the switch from upstairs and that light faded. He was going to have to head to bed soon too as well—he had an early day in the morning with several distant deliveries. He slid from the bar stool and inspected the bar floor one last time before he too turned out the lights, once again ensuring that the door was locked and the blinds shut for the night. There was only one thing left to check before heading upstairs.

Carefully, he lifted his left sleeve.

The bruise was still there.


	12. Blank Slate

The past few months had been pretty nice.

Fantastic, in fact. Yuffie had been coming around as much as she could to help out with the bar as an extra server. The lighter workload had allowed for far more time to relax, and more time spent with the kids. Even Cloud was taking more time away from the delivery service—some days, to do inventory or other menial tasks around the bar, and other days to bend to Marlene and Denzel's whim because while he would probably never admit it, he was pretty awful at saying 'no'.

But sometimes, when the sun set and all was finally quiet in the Seventh Heaven, life didn't seem easier anymore. That was when the sadness set in. From where, Tifa wasn't quite sure—there wasn't anything to be upset about; in fact, life was what she could consider to be perfect right now. She had everything she had ever wanted—a thriving business, family. Friends. A place to permanently call home. But despite all of this, nighttime was the part of the day that she dreaded the most. While the past couple of months had been a whirlwind of positive transformations in the household, it felt at times like those same changes were becoming harder and harder to bear.

Life was changing.

And now, as Tifa sat at a booth tucked in the corner, away from all of the other lights and sounds of the creaking Seventh Heaven, those dreadful feelings were creeping back again. Marlene and Denzel were in bed; Cloud had been finishing planning several delivery routes in the office the last time she had seen him. It was just her and her thoughts in this moment. Slowly, she pressed the edge of her glass to her lips and allowed the cool water to touch her lips as she watched the few straggling passerbys scramble to find their way home in the dark. The sky seemed extra dark tonight. Or so she thought, at least.

Tifa would have never guessed that this is where life would take her. She had always pictured her life to be full of adventures with AVALANCHE, terrorizing big corporations that threatened the safety of the planet and crushing foes with her fists. Sleeping in hideouts and constantly on alert for danger had been an appealing lifestyle. But that quickly changed when Cloud joined the gang all of those years ago. Those teenage fantasies of running off with the boy of her dreams and starting a new life—whatever that entailed—were creeping back steadily into her mind. And when Meteor had fallen? A slightly modified version of that same fantasy finally existed in reality-a home built with their own hands, living under the same roof with a decent amount of income and two children to raise that for all intents and purposes, were _theirs_. After the Geostigma crisis was over, Cloud returned home and things were well.

She hadn't ever even expected herself to live very long. Danger and the lifestyle that accompanied it suited her and the previous events in her life had forced her to come to terms with the possibility of dying fairly quickly. If she never got to settle down and raise a family, or live a long life surrounded by the people she cared about most, then that was okay with her. Not everyone got to live the life they always wanted to, anyways.

A tear slid down her cheek.

She was still here. And for that, she was _so_ thankful for. She had been given the opportunity to run a thriving bar and watch two beautiful children grow. She was in love with the boy she dreamt about at night so long ago. But still, it was all changing…

"…I thought you had fallen asleep down here."

Tifa wiped the tears from her face with a quick brush of a hand and flashed a tired smile. A taller figure slipped into the booth with her, only a few inches separating the two. "I was just finishing up down here; I'll be upstairs soon."

A long pause. She sat motionless and she felt the seat shift and heard the soft creaking of old leather as Cloud adjusted to better see her face. Although she didn't directly look at him, she could see the glow of his eyes in the dim light. The moon was beginning to peek through the clouds; the light slipping through the blinds only highlighted the damp streaks on her cheeks.

"You've been crying."

Tifa didn't say anything. She took another sip of her water.

A hand gently pried from the window. She reluctantly gave in to his touch and turned to face her companion, where a few more tears fell from the corners of her weary eyes. Cloud didn't say anything; instead, his suddenly arms seemed so much bigger than her and encircled her like a blanket. She rested her head on his shoulder and dug her fingers into his shirt. "…I'm okay."

His head gently rested against hers.

"Things will be okay, right?"

She felt him nod. "…Things will be alright."

Tifa wiggled out from his arms and sniffled, laughing softly as she wiped the stray tears from her face. "Everything is just happening so fast. That's all."

"Yeah," a small smile tugged at the corners of Cloud's lips. He reached across her and gently tugged the glass from her fingers and taking a small sip. "Things are going to be different. But you'll be okay." A pause. " _We'll_ be okay. All of us here."

Tifa was quiet for what felt like forever. The heat in the bar seemed to be building; one thing that they didn't take too much into consideration when designing the Seventh Heaven was the fact that summers in the Western Continent were almost always sweltering. She giggled softly as she stole the glass back from his calloused hands. "I need that more than you do. Get your own glass."

Cloud shook his head. His hand outstretched to grab it from her again. Suddenly, a splash of cold water hit his face and he froze as water dripped from the blonde strands of hair in his face. Tifa sat before him with her fingers dipped in the drink, a sly grin on her face.

"That wasn't very nice."

Tifa laughed. "You asked for it."

Cloud rubbed his wet face with a hand and smeared it across Tifa's arm, a quiet squeal erupting from her as she struggled to scoot away from him. " _Stop that_."

He smiled. Again, the bar fell silent save for the ticking of a small clock on the other side of the bar. One of Cloud's hands came to gently rest on her hip, and he pulled her closer to him. The two stared through the blinds at the clearing sky; the angel statue that hovered above the bar served as a stark reminder of where they had come from and all that they still had to look forward to.

Tifa head quickly lifted from his shoulder, her eyes wide and mouth slightly agape.

Cloud's head tilted, eyebrows raised. His eyes seemed to glow just a little more. "…Tifa?"

She took his hand and gently pressed it against her abdomen. Her hands encircled his, holding him there. "Do you feel that?"

Tifa watched as his eyes widened. Cloud's grip on her belly tightened, his fingers twisted to intertwine with hers. He said nothing, but his gaze raised from their interlocked hands to her eyes.

A large smile spread across her face. "He's kicking."

" _He?_ "

Tifa leaned her back against the booth and rested her head against the wood, turning to him and shrugging. "I think it's a boy."

Cloud said nothing, but his gaze remained on her for several more minutes. His hand remained pressed against her tummy; he followed her lead by kicking his feet up on the seat across the table. They both sat there with their eyes closed, enjoying the presence of one another in the cramped booth despite the availability of a perfectly comfortable bed upstairs.

Tifa's hand gently squeezed his. "…What do you think he'll look like?"

The blonde chuckled. "Hopefully like you."

"I see all of the looks some of the ladies give you when they come in and you're here. You're not as bad looking as you think, Cloud Strife."

"I never said _that…_ "

The young woman smirked. "See, you _do_ have a bit of an ego somewhere under that guilt complex."

He shrugged. "That's one thing that I hope he doesn't get from me."

Tifa said nothing and continued to nurse on her water. She ran her fingers over his knuckles; his hand hadn't moved once from her abdomen as if he felt like he had a personal duty to protect the baby growing inside. She smiled and lifted his hand to her face to run her bottom lip over his fingertips. "…You have such a good heart, Cloud."

Cloud laughed softly. "That's reassuring to hear."

"You don't believe me?"

"It's not that…" he paused, his eyes narrowing as he struggled to find the words to convey his muddled thoughts. "But this is _ours_ , Tifa. Marlene and Denzel have grown up with other people to teach them right from wrong."

"We've helped them with that, too."

"I know, but we can't mess this one up. This is going to be like we're starting completely fresh."

Tifa smiled a tired smile and yawned. "…A blank slate."

"That's one way to look at it," Cloud chuckled.

Tifa nudged him out of the booth. She slid out behind him, stretching her arms above her head and rising on her tip-toes to reach her companion's height. "We can do this. No one said it'll be easy, but we're not alone either. Right?"

He nodded and took her glass from the table before placing it into the sink. A weary smile spread across his face. "Right."

Tifa followed him behind the counter, where her arms gently wrapped around his waist as he leaned against the sink. "…Cloud?"

"Hm?"

She rested her forehead against his chest and closed her eyes, enjoying his radiating body heat despite the boiling temperature surrounding them. "I love you."

His lips gently landed against the top of her head. "I love you too."


	13. Toxicity

Cloud had never really cared much for spiders.

Tifa _really_ didn't like spiders. ShinRa extermination bots, bandits, and almost any other thing in this world trying to kill them couldn't phase her…except _spiders_. Small, big, furry—didn't matter.

So when they realized that they had been standing under one of the largest and thickest spider webs imaginable for over five minutes, Cloud could only imagine the internal shrieking resounding in Tifa's head. He looked over; her eyes wide and frantic only confirmed his suspicions.

"Bugenhagen….what is that?" One of her long fingers extended to gently brush a stray wisp of the web from her face. Cloud watched as her finger shook ever so slightly.

Nanaki's head cocked to one side, his voice low. "I've never seem something like this before…"

A dim green glow slipped past the trio. " _Ho, ho, hoooo!_ Now what do we have here?" The elder rose to his feet on his floating orb—one of the only things providing even a small amount of light to the group as they passed through the Caves of the Gi. He poked at the web with his cane; it quivered to the touch but not a single fiber broke. The elder turned to his younger companions, a grin on his face. "Whatever made this isn't something to be reckoned with."

Cloud scoffed quietly; his grip tightened on his sword. "You don't say."

Bugenhagen drifted back to his original position behind the group, with his cane nudging Nanaki's backside. "With my protectors here, there's nothing to worry about—correct? _Hooooo!"_ A chuckle followed.

"I had only ever heard of these caves," Nanaki turned back to face the group, his face somber as he continued on in the direction in which he was jabbed. "They were almost nothing more than a legend here in Cosmo Canyon. No one had ever seen them…" he turned back to their elderly guide. "…except you, grandfather."

Bugenhagen said nothing; his lips pursed together in a thin line. He shot a glance to Cloud and Tifa, the latter of which was still visibly bewildered by the large webs above them. He continued on past them and speechlessly followed Nanaki through a winding branch of the caverns. Cloud watched his companion for another moment before gently bumping her with an elbow, a reassuring lift of his lips providing some comfort as he encouraged her forward.

"Let's go, Tifa."

* * *

The caves had stretched for what felt like miles. Between trying to dodge puddles of acidic sludge and avoiding monsters that were little more than annoyances at this point, Cloud wasn't sure how willing he was to continue or why he even decided to follow Nanaki and Bugenhagen here in the first place. It was quickly discovered that Bugenhagen was quite the talker; from every topic ranging from astronomy to the history of Cosmo Canyon dating millions of years back, there was no shortage of belly laughs from that old man. Cloud was just wondering how much more of it he was going to be able to stand before ducking out entirely. It was surely getting late and even if they _did_ reach this intended destination, there was still an entire trek back to the canyon to be made.

"…Hey, Cloud."

Cloud drew his attention from forming escaping routes to the young woman at his side who stood frozen in her place. He raised an eyebrow, his voice slow and deliberate. "Tifa…?"

She looked at him with eyes almost wider than the sun, her mouth agape as she lifted her finger once more to the roof of the cave. Cloud squinted through the dark.

Nothing.

He looked back to Tifa and shook his head. "I don't see anything."

"I _just_ saw something big move up there…" Her voice trailed off and she frowned as the skeptical gazes of her comrades stared her down. "I swear."

Nanaki stepped forward with a gentle gaze sparkling in his crimson eyes as he dug in a small satchel hanging from his neck. With his teeth, he gingerly lifted from the satchel a bright purple piece of materia and pressed it into the palm of Tifa's hand. "Perhaps this can help."

Tifa hesitantly wrapped her fingers around the fragile ball, careful not to crush it between her fingers as she held it before her chest with a straight arm. The materia glowed a fascinating purple hue for a short moment before a light exploded forth from its core all at once and illuminated the entirety of the cave. The purple light mixed with the eerie green hues of the grotto's rock faces and only emphasized the ghostly atmosphere. Slowly, she shifted the ball of light from one end of the roof to the other, ensuring that nothing was moving.

Nothing. She heaved a sigh of relief.

Cloud now stood behind her and wordlessly watched as she carefully inspected even the smallest of crevices for signs of unwanted life. He couldn't help but laugh to himself. It was truly a sight to be seen. Tifa, quite possibly the best martial artist on this entire planet—was absolutely terrified of eight-legged insects. He crossed his arms and with a sly smirk on his face, leaning against the wall of the narrow cavern. "Now you're just psyching yourself out."

She spun on her heels; the light emanating from the materia blinded him as it shone almost directly in his field of view. She leaned forward, her lips pouted slightly as she threw back the taunt. "You can't make fun of me, Cloud Strife. I know for a fact that you're scared of…"

He watched as her facial expressions contorted from those of lighthearted fun to utter petrification. Her jaw fell open once more, and before she could utter even a single syllable the materia was thrown from her hands and shattered to the ground, leaving the party in utter darkness as their eyes were no longer accustomed to the dimness surrounding them. A shrill shriek accompanied by the swift flow of hair past his cheek followed; Cloud could feel his stomach sink as he immediately recognized the sound as belonging to Tifa.

Cloud fumbled behind his back to grasp the handle of his sword in the dark. Nanaki's claws could be heard nearby pacing frantically in the darkness, followed by the rhythmic roll of Bugenhagen's orb against dirt as he too struggled to suddenly figure out which way was up in the maze of caverns.

"Ho, hooooo, it appears that we've made someone very unhappy…" Bugenhagen's voice had taken on a much more uneasy tone and his laughter wasn't quite so jolly anymore.

"Tifa?" Nanaki cried out, a small whimper following.

Nothing.

Cloud fumbled in his pant pocket until he felt a familiar smooth, round orb. The materia had previously been depleted of most of its magic earlier in the day; hopefully he could draw enough energy from it to provide enough light even for a moment. Closing his eyes as he tried his hardest to channel his thoughts directly into the orb in his palm, he opened them once more to see that the fire materia in his hand now glowed a faint pale red. While certainly not providing much light at all and only lukewarm to the touch, Cloud let out a small sigh of relief as he could finally make out the shapes of Nanaki and Bugenhagen.

But where was Tifa?

He called out her name once more.

There was silence for a moment. Then a muffled cry in the distance.

Where _was_ she?

Cloud quickly turned, losing his balance in the process and nearly falling straight into a wide puddle of the dreaded acidic sludge. Before him and propped up against a wall of the cave was a tightly wound bundle, crumpled over. It remained motionless for a moment…but then wiggled. He ran to it and knelt down, his hands gently running over the silken trap as he struggled to find a weak area in the threading. Whatever did this really knew what it was doing; it was the tightest hunk of silk he had ever laid his eyes on.

Nanaki rushed over and rolled the lump over with his nose. Cloud's eyes were quickly met with a wide pair of maroon ones. The young woman struggled to free herself from the sticky, tangled mess that started just below her nose and ran all of the way down to the toes of her boots. Not a single appendage had been spared; Tifa was utterly trapped in this cocoon. The fire materia rolled from his palm and into the dirt at Tifa's side.

Bugenhagen stood at Nanaki's side. His glasses reflected the faint light of the fire materia as he watched Cloud tug at the edges of the webbing. He pointed to the ground beside Tifa. "…The materia, Cloud."

Cloud's gloved hand frantically slid across the ground in an effort to find a shard of the light materia Tifa had dropped moments before. Finally finding a piece that he found to be suitable, he began to saw away at the silken fibers. Slowly but surely, they began to pop and break away from one another, and before long he had at least managed to free her face and neck.

The young woman gasped for air. "C-Cloud."

"It's alright," he didn't look at her but instead continued to make his way down her body, carefully slicing away at the thick layers of webbing and being cautious not to cut her where skin was exposed. He could feel her shaking underneath his touch. "I'll get you out."

Tifa quickly shook her head. "L-look…" she wiggled a hand free from her side and pointed past his head. Cloud's hands stopped sawing and he twisted back.

…A leg.

A _long_ leg. He followed its length up to where it met the base of a body—the sight of which only confirmed their earlier suspicions that because those webs were present, a spider couldn't be far off. An enormous one, at that. And it didn't appear very happy.

" _Ho, ho, hooooo!_ A nest must be close by," Bugenhagen's voice had risen five octaves and he had already managed to squeeze himself between the wall and Nanaki. "This looks like a female. A mother, perhaps?"

The spider let out an ear-piercing wail.

Cloud rose to his feet and pulled his sword from his back. "I don't care what it is," the edge of his blade grazed the soft fur on the spider's leg. This thing was truly what nightmares were made of.

Another screech. The creature lunged forward, and in the process unleashed a slew of sticky webbing from its pedipalps. The Buster Sword broke through the nets with ease and Cloud effortlessly dodged the onslaught of fibers. The spider flailed its legs in every which direction and tried to decimate the party with its substantial weight—luckily both Cloud and Nanaki's fluid forms allowed for a quick and flawless range of motion.

Cloud shot a glance over his shoulder. Where a lump of silken thread once laid was now Tifa's limp figure, the shadow of which barely moved against the rock face behind her.

" _Cloud!_ "

Within that single second, the spider had managed to position itself directly above Cloud. Its body cast a shadow over him and the guttural roaring in the spider's abdomen told him that whatever it had in store for him wasn't going to be pleasant by any means. The behemoth lifted one of its front, long appendages and before Cloud could even comprehend the leg bearing down on him, a streak of white light flashed before his eyes followed by a deafening _crack_.

The massive arachnid screeched.

Lifting his head from behind his elbow, raised to protect him from whatever the creature had in store for him. Where a leg had once been planted in the ground before him now stood a pile of ash, and tendrils of blanched soil extended in every direction from it. The smell of burnt hair, flesh, and electricity filled the air.

"Are you alright, my boy?!"

He turned. Bugenhagen stood tall on his orb, a small ball of materia still glowing a bright yellow still perched on the tips of his fingers. Magic infused with the power of lightning. Cloud's attention quickly turned back to the foe before him as another shot of sticky tacky netting whizzed past his ear; a red blur followed suit. Upon focusing his eyes, Cloud realized that it was in fact Nanaki—who was busy digging his deadly white fangs into the body of the arachnid. Screams and wails filled the cavern; the spider was clearly not too pleased. Nanaki released his vice grip on the monster as it flailed to and fro, throwing him off of its back and onto the ground once more. Nanaki skidded across the dirt and back to Cloud's side, a deep growl sitting in his throat as he continued to bare his teeth.

The party immediately froze, however, as a shadow rose and towered over all of them, blocking what little light remained in the cave. The spider rose on its hind legs and howled an ear-piercing wail; Cloud winced. His whole cranium vibrated.

Bugenhagen raised the bolt materia above his head and lunged forward at the monster as it threatened to back them against a wall. "Leave!" The materia began to glow the same magnificent gold as before. "Go, or you'll get _this_ again!"

The ground stopped shaking beneath their feet as the spider halted its progress towards them. It cried out—whimpered, in fact—and instead, backed away from them. Cloud watched in awe as Bugenhagen slowly rolled towards the monster, materia still in hand, and steadily fended it off.

"Grandfather!" Nanaki cried out. His body tensed and he bolted forward in an attempt to intercept the elder. He quickly stopped when Bugenhagen spoke once more, his typically belly laugh filling the cave with a roar.

" _Ho, ho, hooooo!_ It's alright, Nanaki! Do not fear this beast; I think it's learned its place. It's more scared of us than we should be of it," now, the only thing visible of Bugenhagen in the dark was the faint glow of his floating orb and the ball of materia that he possessed.

The spider let out several smaller whimpers before it pressed the remaining three legs of its left side onto a wall. From its fangs shot another large clump of sticky webbing that stuck to a large stalactite dangling from the roof of the cave; slowly, it pulled itself up without even attempting to further confront Bugenhagen. The elderly man's laugh could once again be heard echoing and drawing near once more.

 _Tifa_.

"…Tifa."

The name slipped from Cloud's lips as nothing more than a whisper.

He called her name out. He turned to the back of the cave, where the mound of silken fibers still laid. Beneath it, he could see the outline of a hand. And an arm. She hadn't moved. Without even realizing it, his legs were carrying him faster than he had ever thought possible to her side, where he found Tifa lying motionless in the exact same place that he had left her in. He knelt down and immediately placed two fingers to her neck, his heart pounding a thousand miles a minute.

She was _alive_.

Sliding his hand to her cheek and gently tapping it, he called out her name once more. As the adrenaline plateaued in his blood and his eyes adjusted to the dim environment once more, he could see her skin glistening with sweat and her muscles quivering ever-so-slightly.

Tifa's eyes gradually opened.

A sigh of relief escaped Cloud's lips.

"…Cloud…?"

The blonde knelt just a little closer to her face. His voice was soft. "It's me." His thumb gently brushed the blanched apple of her cheek.

Tifa pulled an arm free of the sticky fibers and groaned softly as she placed the back of her forearm above her forehead. "I don't feel so well…"

Now that she was conscious, the shaking of her body was startlingly apparent. The cold sweats combined with the already-damp conditions of the cave only made her feel that much colder, and Cloud watched as Tifa struggled to keep herself from vomiting as she lazily rolled to one side and wretched. He placed a gentle hand on her back. He twisted his neck to face Bugenhagen and Nanaki, who stood and watched wordlessly.

"What's wrong with her?"

Bugenhagen's lips pursed together tightly and he rolled forward. "It looks as if she's been poisoned. The web cocoon that the creature wrapped her up in most likely had a potent toxin in it…she was supposed to be its next meal."

Cloud turned back to his dear Tifa. He didn't have any potions or antidotes on him, or cure materia for that matter.

Nanaki stepped from the shadows, a solemn expression on his face. He bent down and gently nudged Tifa's face. She didn't acknowledge him but instead her head simply lulled to one side; she had slipped back into unconsciousness but the tremors racking her fragile frame continued. "I've seen poisoning like this only once before here in Cosmo Canyon, long ago…" his voice trailed off as he continued to carefully inspect the young woman's body.

"And?"

The creature looked up, and his crimson gaze met Cloud's. "…She doesn't have much longer, Cloud."

Cloud frowned. Carefully, he scooped Tifa's limp figure into his arms and rose to his feet-she was so much lighter than he had expected. He turned to face the direction from which they had come; a pinhole-sized light shone in the distance guiding them out. Bugenhagen followed closely after, Nanaki trailing behind as well.

Cloud shot a glance behind him as he continued forward. "…We'll take her to Aerith."


	14. Pulse of Life

"…I believe we came through this way."

" _Ho ho hooo_ , I don't think so, my boy. I distinctly remember going this way," Bugenhagen shook his head as he tugged on a tuft of fur on Nanaki's neck. A long finger extended from the arm of his robe and pointed to a dark break in the stone wall; where it led to was anyone's guess at this point.

If they had been winding through these caves for miles on the way in, it felt as if they were going to be stuck in here _forever_ now as they tried to trace their way back out.

Cloud wordlessly slipped past his bantering companions and continued down the path straight ahead. While they struggled to remember the direction from which they had come, Cloud had—thankfully—taken his earlier boredom and used it to carefully observe the various rock formations they passed. Why? He hadn't been sure…until it had turned out that Tifa's life was going to depend on it.

She was dying. A slow death, albeit, but dying nonetheless. Between the moment she had been infected and now, her condition had gone from bad to worse as she had gone from speaking coherent sentences to mumbling incomprehensible, random words strung together as the delirium had begun to set in. But she was speaking nonetheless, and that was all Cloud cared about.

She shivered. Cloud looked down. Tifa was smiling, her eyes not focused on him but instead on the path ahead; she laughed.

"…What?"

She stared ahead at the trail for another moment longer before wincing and crossing her arms across her chest as another wave of convulsions racked her body. "You always know what to do…which way are we gonna go?" Her words slurred together and she laughed again as she lulled her head backwards to catch a glimpse of Nanaki. "…You think I'm crazy I bet…"

Nanaki looked at Cloud. The blonde said nothing; his upper lip remained stiff and his eyes didn't meet his. Instead, Cloud continued forward with steady footsteps. He stopped as Tifa stretched out a trembling hand. "We can't just leave them behind, Cloo _uuuuddd_. Look at him—" her finger pointed just past Cloud to Bugenhagen. Her voice was now just slightly less loud, although the reverberation in the caves did little to quiet her. "…He's _old_. You aren't just gonna leave him…" her eyelids began to brim with tears. " _Are_ you?"

Cloud shot a glance back to Bugenhagen, who was trying as hard as he could not to crack a smile. Cloud supposed that he would have found it humorous too, was it not for the fact that _his_ Tifa wasn't actually the one saying such strange things. He shook his head slowly, the corners of his lips rising only slightly as he reassured her that he wasn't, in fact, leaving the elder and their canine friend behind. "...I'm not going to leave them here." He felt Tifa's weak fist dig into his knit shirt.

"Please don't leave me here…"

"I won't."

Tifa let out a shaky sigh of relief and a serene smile spread across her face as she buried her sweat-covered face into the side of his chest. Her eyes closed.

Cloud let out a sigh of relief as the light at the end of the tunnel, both figurative and literal, was now in sight. He adjusted the fragile woman in his arms and stopped for a moment as if to admire the view of the aluminum ladders and ropes that hovered above them—they were almost back. He turned back and motioned to Bugenhagen to come closer. His cobalt eyes narrowed as he studied the rocky channel through which they had to ascend. On the outside of this tunnel was the familiarity of Cosmo Canyon. "You're going to have to take Tifa. I can't carry her up there," with the utterance of that sentence, his hold on her figure tightened.

The elder gave an affirmative nod.

Cloud's eyes fell to Tifa, who stirred ever so slightly amid her disorientation. The grip she had once had on his shirt had now completely loosened; she was quickly losing her strength. It was only a matter of time before the toxin suffocated her. Cloud's lips pursed together and slowly, he dipped his head closer to her ear. "Tifa, you're going to go with Bugenhagen. He'll take you to Aerith," Cloud's voice softened. "She's going to help you."

Slowly, Tifa's weighted eyelids groggily opened. The hand that laid limp at her side trembled as she used some of the last remaining ounces of her energy to place the tips of her fingers against his jaw; her nails gently traced along his chin and her glazed over eyes began to well up once more. "I don't want you to go…"

 _Please, don't let this be it. Please don't let this be the last thing she says._

He shook his head slowly. "I'll see you in a little bit."

The poison was taking its course steadily through her body and soon she wasn't going to be able to breathe, let alone move. Her muscles were already tightening in painful contractions and then relaxing to the point of near-paralysis; the more minutes that ticked by, the less likely she was going to remain on this planet. Cloud reluctantly passed her into the waiting arms of Bugenhagen, who gave Cloud one last nod before his luminous green orb lifted him above the ground and soon, above their heads. Both he and Nanaki watched silently as Bugenhagen's silhouette began to blur with the darkness at the top of the tunnel; the sound of a latch lifting and then a hatch opening signaled that the two had safely escaped the danger of the caves. After several more moments of silence shared between the remaining two members of the party, Cloud turned to Nanaki.

"I'm sorry that we had to cut this a little short."

"It's alright," Nanaki gave a quick flash of his white, sharp teeth. "There's no sense in losing anyone over my curiosity…" His voice grew soft. "No one else should ever have to die in these caves."

"Don't think that it's your fault," Cloud outstretched an arm and grabbed the rope dangling above his head. "Come on, we better get going."

"…Cloud?"

The blonde's head twisted back.

Nanaki lowered his head. "It wasn't your fault, either."

"…Let's go."

* * *

The sunlight that once illuminated Cosmo Canyon was now long gone, replaced by stars and a bright moon that accentuated every dip and peak in the rock formations. If the voyage out of the caverns had felt long, this felt about ten times longer. Cloud wondered how anyone could remember which way was up here; if it wasn't for Nanaki, he would probably be roaming the Canyon forever. The well-worn paths were visible but branched out in so many different directions—there was no telling where they led. In the distance, the faint roar of the creatures that roamed the desert echoed. Cloud stopped and sighed softly. This was taking too long.

 _What if they didn't make it?_

As if hearing Cloud's thoughts, Nanaki turned. A small smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. "Bugenhagen can handle himself. I do not think you need to worry about them."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "He seems sort of…frail," he pulled himself over a ledge. The faint glow of a dying fire lit up the Canyon only about a half-mile away.

So close.

"Bugenhagen has lived a long life. He's had a long time to perfect the use of magic."

"Magic? Like materia?"

Nanaki nodded. "Yes…while Grandfather does not condone the use of materia because it is not good for the Planet, he's learned to manipulate the energy around him to recharge materia and cast its magic." He paused. "Tifa is safe with him. Monsters should be more scared of him than he is of them."

As the pair descended the final peak, the fire grew brighter. And not too far off from that fire, a green orb—no larger than a marble from their distance—rolled across the desert landscape.

Cloud's brow furrowed and he turned to Nanaki. "What _is_ he?"

The beast looked up and chuckled. "He is wise."

* * *

Barret's snoring could not have been a more welcome sound.

Nanaki and Cloud had managed to catch up enough behind Bugenhagen and Tifa to trail just slightly behind them; the two watched as the elder approached the fire where only a young woman remained. The tents pitched around the fire were all dark—everyone else slept on. Cloud's pace picked up and he joined Bugenhagen in carefully lowering Tifa to the ground. The woman rose to her feet. "What happened to her?"

Cloud knelt at Tifa's side with Aerith joining him. He brushed Tifa's dark, damp hair from her face. The tremors racking her body had not ceased and had in fact only grown stronger; her breaths came in labored rasps and her chest heaved as they struggled against the toxin invading every cell. His fingers gently rested against Tifa's cheek and he patted her face. "C'mon, Tifa. Wake up."

Her eyes didn't even flicker.

He lifted his head back to Aerith. "She's been poisoned. You have to help her."

"What—"

"It _doesn't matter_ ," Cloud's voice grew much more stern and the mako flowing through his body made his gaze even more fierce. "Please…just help her."

The Cetra watched him for a moment longer; Cloud could feel her eyes carefully observing every aspect of his face as he focused on the woman lying before him. Aerith shifted on her knees and folded her hands. Her lips recited silent words and for what felt like forever, nothing happened. The sound of insects chirping and animals howling filled the Canyon. But Tifa was still dying. Cloud's hand had remained on her face; his fingers gently brushed away some of the dirt that covered her face from their previous encounter in the caves.

 _Please don't go…_

Another ragged gasp escaped from her body. Her chest froze. Cloud's eyes grew wide.

 _No. Please._

The blonde patted her cheek again. "Tifa?"

The young woman remained unusually still in its rigid state. Even the shaking had stopped. Cloud took her face between both his palms and lifted his eyes to meet Nanaki's, who stood frozen at Tifa's head. "What's happening to her?"

Nanaki shook his head. "I don't…"

 _Tifa…come back._

A flash of green. The crumbling of earth.

Cloud quickly pulled his hands back and he squinted against the blinding light that began to absorb Tifa's entire body. Emerald tendrils spilled forth from the Planet beneath her form and stretched from her head to her toes. Cloud watched in amazement as the wounds covering her body began to dissipate under glowing green strands; the muscles visible in her arms and legs began to relax as Aerith's prayer healed the damage it had caused to her nervous system. Slowly, the green light began to fade and the healing strands retreated to the Planet once more. All that remained was Tifa—still, but no longer shaking with pain. If anything, it looked as if she had been no more than peacefully sleeping.

Aerith's hands slowly lowered into her lap and she let out a soft sigh. The prayer looked as if it had taken a physical toll on her body; her skin was no longer its rosy hue and her eyes were tired. A gentle smile spread across her face and the tips of her long fingers gently grazed Tifa's cheeks. "She's alright now, Cloud."

Cloud placed a hand on Tifa's shoulder and gave her a firm shake. "…Tifa?"

"She might be asleep for a while," Aerith laughed softly and rose to her feet. "Just let her rest. She might not even remember much of this."

Bugenhagen laughed. " _Ho ho hooo!_ Perhaps that is for the best, my dear."

Cloud searched the campsite for a blanket. None of the three had pitched a tent during the day before they left for the caves—a poor decision in hindsight, but the weather was alright. Finally finding a spare blanket stored away in Yuffie's rucksack, he carefully spread it out and laid Tifa upon it. The blanket was luckily large enough to be doubled up; he took the extra fabric and laid it atop of her. Amid the dying light of the camp fire, he could see what almost looked like a small smile gracing her face.

"Cloud, my boy?"

He lifted his gaze to meet Bugenhagen's. The elder adjusted his robe and yawned. "I must say that I'm feeling particularly drained after our adventure. If it is alright with you, I think I will call it a night, here?"

He ran a hand through his blonde spikes; the realization of it being nearly three in the morning just dawned on him. Nanaki had already taken up a spot close to the fire and looked as if he was dozing in and out. Knowing that his friend was going to be alright was apparently enough for him to allow himself to fall asleep. "Yeah…that's fine," he studied the older man for a moment longer. "Do you need someone to go back with you or?"

Bugenhagen let out another boisterous laugh. " _Ho ho hooo,_ you needn't worry about me my boy. I can handle myself."

Cloud nodded, and watched as Bugenhagen gave one last wave before he turned and his orb steadily rolled away from the camp and weaved through the marketplace. Slowly, the green glow it emitted was swallowed by shadows and soon couldn't be seen at all. He rested his head between his legs.

A hand gently laid upon his shoulder. "…Cloud?"

He raised his head once more. Aerith knelt before him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…I'm okay."

She walked to her sleeping friend and gingerly adjusted the blankets over her; her fingers glided through Tifa's thick hair and brushed the knots out. "She's very lucky to know someone like you, Cloud."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Do you need anything before I go to bed, Cloud?"

Cloud stared at her as she rose to her feet once more and turned to him, a playful smile on her face. He laughed softly. "No, I guess not."

"Alrighty then," Aerith spun on her heels and wrapped her arms around herself; she had abandoned her bolo jacket for the night and had resigned herself to dealing with the refreshing cold for just a bit. "Well, then I suppose I'll be turning in for the night. Get some sleep, okay?"

He nodded. "…Aerith?"

Her head spun over her shoulder.

"Thank you…for saving Tifa."

The young woman smiled and gave him a small nod. She dipped into her tent and silently zipped up the entrance behind her.

Cloud leaned back against one of the logs set beside the fire and opposite of Tifa; his blanket was nowhere in sight—Barret had probably stolen it while they were all gone. He let his head fall back onto the wood, but his eyes never moved from Tifa. She remained asleep, bundled up in the thick wool blanket Aerith had covered her with. The sickly grey tone that had shaded her face was replaced now with her normal, pink hue—she was okay. She was _alive._

Cloud let out a sigh and closed his eyes. And, in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but laugh to himself.

Tifa was _really_ going to hate spiders now.


	15. Father's Day

Happy (early) Father's Day!

* * *

A soft breeze.

A car whirring through the alley below.

Crickets.

The nights in Edge were surprisingly peaceful, especially for a city that never seemed to sleep. Even at nearly three in the morning, the shadows of people could be seen trudging down the street and through the backroads. Where they were going or what they were doing out so late was anyone's guess; some were probably going to work the third shift somewhere—others, with a little more time and a few more problems, were most likely coming home from the dingy bars that chose to ignore the city-mandated closing time for businesses. Sun-bleached curtains ebbed and flowed with the cool wind slipping through the cracked window.

A quiet cooing.

Garnet eyes fought against stuck eyelashes and flickered open. Two arms freed themselves from underneath the thick quilt and sluggishly, they pulled the rest of a slender frame up in the bed. Two long, toned legs swung over the side and hung for a moment; toes wiggled and then planted against the cold wood floor. Calloused feet—feet that never seemed to get much of a break—padded across the room and to the corner, stopping at a bassinet. The same arms that were nearly too clumsy to break free from tangled bedsheets a moment ago were suddenly very much steady; carefully, they scooped a bundle from the cradle and pulled it close.

"Shh…it's alright," a voice reassured. "I'm here."

Another coo. A little less fussy this time.

"You just want some attention, huh?"

Silence. But two luminous blue eyes stared back, wide with awe of the sound of their mother's voice.

Tifa smiled. She brought two fingers to the infant's face and gently traced a hairline laced with baby hair and down chubby cheeks. The pad of her finger gently ran across a cheekbone. A small hand reached out from the blanket and tiny fingers wrapped themselves around her index finger.

Lyra. Lyra Aster Strife.

A girl. Tifa had always had the feeling that the baby was going to be a boy; she was surprised when a nurse looked her in the eyes with a wide grin and told her otherwise. She wasn't disappointed, however—now that Marlene lived and stayed with Barret most the time, it felt like there was a serious lack of estrogen in the Seventh Heaven.

"…Tifa?"

She twisted her head back to the bed, where the lump that had once been still in the spot beside hers was now stirring. A figure dug themselves out from beneath the covers and one foot slipped out of the bed. She shook her head. "No, no. It's alright. I've got it."

The shadow froze for a moment, but slowly their leg slipped back onto the bed and under the covers. Cloud propped himself up on an elbow and Tifa could feel his cobalt eyes watching her. "The doctor told you to rest."

Tifa laughed softly. She made her way to the bed and carefully sat down beside him, brushing stray pieces of dark hair from her face. Her finger stayed with the baby's own little fingers still tugging on it; she wondered why anyone bothered buying so many toys for their infants when all they needed was a good finger or piece of hair to tug on. "Yeah, but I'm not used to sitting around doing nothing, you know. Besides, you've done so much for me in the past couple of days. It's only fair that I return the favor occasionally," she smiled. Cloud seemed to have been running around like a mad man since she and the baby had come home from the hospital—getting everything she or Lyra could possibly ever need, and insisting that she stay in bed or sitting, at the very least. It seemed like maybe he had taken the doctor's advice to take it easy for a few days a little too seriously.

"I know you aren't, but Yuffie and I have the bar covered—you don't need to worry about that."

She gently bounced the baby in her arms and grinned. "I'm not worried about any of that; I think it's sort of nice not having to think about it. I'm just worried that you're going to drive yourself insane. You need to relax every once in a while, too, Cloud."

Cloud rubbed an eye and extended his opposite hand out to gently brush the blonde fuzz atop of Lyra's head. Her tiny hand immediately let go of Tifa's finger and chased after his, finally catching one in between her fingers and staring at it with wonder. He laughed softly. "I'm fine."

The two sat in silence for several minutes, just staring at the infant in its mother's arms. Cloud didn't dare move his hand; in some way, he was just as mesmerized by the baby as she was by him. Finally, Tifa's soft voice broke the silence.

"…We made this. Her."

Cloud's sleepy gaze shifted from the infant to Tifa. He studied her face—everything from her messy, greasy dark hair to the purple bags under her eyes. She was still the most beautiful thing he had ever laid his eyes on. "We did."

"Kinda crazy, huh?"

Another quiet chuckle. "Yeah, it is."

Another few minutes went by where no one spoke. Tifa continued to rock the baby in the arms; Lyra was beginning to struggle to keep her eyes open. Her mother giggled.

"I think it's time to go back to bed."

 _Phumpf._

She turned her head. Cloud's head had slipped from his hand and back onto his pillow, his mouth just slightly agape and his eyes shut once more. Apparently, he was much more tired than he led on. His finger remained locked between Lyra's hands. Tifa carefully pried the infant's hands away from his; Cloud's hand fell limply into her lap. She slowly slid out from underneath him and rose back to her feet. She looked back down at the baby in her arms. It looked like she was the only one awake, now. She placed a soft kiss atop of her daughter's head.

"We'll let daddy get some extra sleep tonight, okay?"


End file.
